[SATLUG] 1984, Robots, the Military and Technology

[Geoff]

ed wrote:

> In the movie, "Star Trek VI, The Undiscovered Country," and later
> mimicked  by Captain  Picard in ST: TNG, was an intriguing suggestion
> (paraphrased...):  "Advancements in technology and their uses weigh
> heavily upon us of late.  Perhaps its pursuit should be revised to
> consider the premise that, just because we /can/ do a thing need not
> mean that we necessarily /must/ do that thing..."  or words very like
> these...  Wise thoughts from a more recent philosopher...
>   

I wouldn't expect words like that to come out of the mouth of Jack 
O'Neill (grin) but, I a while back I -did- read an interesting piece 
written by a Scottish (I think) professor about the rise and fall of a 
democracy, and how -any- democratic society (like which we live in, 
today) usually only lasts around 200 years.

Interestingly enough, it was written around the end of the 19th century.

I've tried looking through my emails (I never delete anything) and 
searching the web, but can't find the -exact- quote from the Prof. 

Here's something close:

"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.  (How much memory buffer does an iphone have, anyway?) 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 and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the 
USA in fewer than five years.

Apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

Every day of Freedom is a good day to thank a vet!

--
-Geoff