Reply to Uncle T. on: 'How Long Before America's Collapse?'

Uncle T,

I'm curious... if we're in the "complacency to apathy" phase in American history now, what dates would you put next to the previous 5 phases? What historical eras in America would the first 5 phases correspond to?

1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage

If you ask me, the above is a bunch of hooey! Conservatives who believe everything in America was better 100 or 150 years ago simply don't know U.S. history. I'll give you several examples of what I mean:

> Slavery was abolished when?
> The black codes, Jim Crow, and "separate but equal" were overturned when?
> The U.S Army stopped killing Native Americans when?
> Women were allowed to vote when?
> Child labor was completely abolished when?
> Catholics and Jews were not openly discriminated against starting when?
> Most Americans got at least a high school education starting when?

And the Professor's comment about the kind of people who voted for Bush ("taxpaying citizens") vs. Gore (welfare recipients) in 2000 couldn't be more wrong. According to a study in 2005 by the "non-partisan" (read: conservative), pro-flat tax Tax Foundation, the "blue" states that voted for Gore had the highest income per capita, and paid higher federal income tax per capita. The Tax Foundation report's editor, William Ahern, was equally mystified at why high-earning blue state residents don't vote their wallets and demand lower federal income taxes, and why poorer red staters don't vote in their own selfish interest either, demanding higher taxes on the rich and more government subsidies for themselves.

The answer to this "mystery" is a difference in political culture: Wealthier blue state residents believe in progressive taxation and helping out their fellow citizens in need; and poorer red state residents demand only the right to keep what meager income they earn.

In 2003, only five blue states were net recipients of federal subsidies ( i.e. "welfare queens"); while only two red states were net payers of federal taxes (i.e. "taxpaying citizens"). 12 of the top 14 net taxpaying states were blue. In 2003, according to the Tax Foundation, the blue states contributed $966 billion in federal taxes and got $830 back; whereas the reds paid $697 billion and in return got a fat $909 billion. So, who are the real welfare queens?!

(And you can judge for yourself whether the blue states lost out on federal pork because the red state Republicans controlled all 3 branches of government in 2003....)

Now forward THAT to all of your conservative friends, if you're a "taxpaying citizen" who values the truth!

On 5/10/07, Uncle T forwarded the following dumb conservative chain e-mail:

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How Long Do We Have?

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some
2,000 years earlier:

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government."

"A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."

"From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is
always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years."

"During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the
following sequence:

1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage"

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

Number of States won by:
Gore: 19
Bush: 29

Square miles of land won by:
Gore: 580,000
Bush: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by:
Gore: 127 million
Bush: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: "In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country. Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in
government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare..."

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the "complacency and apathy" phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the "governmental dependency" phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal's [sic] and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

Unfortunately, those who pass this on will be members of the taxpaying public, not the freeloaders.