“Democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasure. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefit from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over a loose financial policy, always to be followed by a dictatorship.“ — Alexander Fraser Tytler, 1743-1813.
Our two senators, Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, learned this lesson well. Recent votes electing and reelecting a new communist to represent our Seventh Congressional District and recently electing a socialist mayor for Seattle reaffirm Tytler’s observations.
If you have any doubt, read a bit about the campaign promises of free services made by the newly elected mayor of New York.
Government services are not free. Someone must pay for them. SNAP, free food and ACH subsidies, free health care money, as examples, dominated much of recent news. Missing from newscasts was the cost and who paid it.
As certain as Tytler’s observations is the fact that those receiving the promised largess will vote for those granting it.
To continue the viability of our republic, we must be ever vigilant about who and what we vote for.
Gregory Riplinger
Centralia
