[ModLib] A LITTLE OFF TOPIC, BUT I THOUGHT THIS SAGE GROUP COULD HELP ME LOCATE A QUOTE

[Scot Kamins]

On Sep 30, 2007, at 12:53 PM, John Wolansky wrote:

> The quote has to do with the idea that Democracy will fail because  
> when the electorate realize they can vote themselves all sorts of  
> goodies, the system will go broke.  If anyone could provide the  
> quote and the author I would be greatly appreciative.
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can  
only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves  
largess from the public treasury. From that time on the majority  
always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the  
public treasury, with the results that a democracy always collapses  
over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. "

-- Sir Alex Fraser Tyler (1742-1813), Scottish jurist and historian

http://www.bluecorncomics.com/reliant.htm
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/reports/jerryp/quotes.html
http://www.economics.pomona.edu/jlikens/food_for_thought.html

(and a bunch of other equally non-authoritative sites, all of which  
may be quoting from each other)

Scot Kamins
..............
"It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with  
power tools." - from an anonymous high school essay