I'm surprised that no one has complained about this thread getting so far off course.
It does make for fascinating reading though. --- John P Donnelly <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > At about the time our original 13 states adopted > their new constitution, > in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish > history professor at The > University of Edinborough) had this to say about > "The Fall of The Athenian > Republic" some 2,000 years prior: > > "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 that they can vote > themselves generous gifts > from the public treasury. From that moment on, the > majority always votes > 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 worlds greatest > civilizations from the beginning > of history, has been about 200 years. During those > 200 years, these > nations always progressed through the following > sequence: > > From Bondage to spiritual faith; > From spiritual faith to great courage; > From courage to liberty; > From liberty to abundance; > From abundance to complacency; > From complacency to apathy; > From apathy to dependence; > From dependence back into bondage." > John Donnelly > z/OS Systems Services > National Semiconductor > Corporation > 2900 Semiconductor Drive > Santa Clara, CA 95051 > > tel: (408) 721-5640 > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > "Steve Grimes" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent by: "IBM Mainframe Discussion List" > <IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU> > 09/22/2006 11:41 AM > Please respond to > "IBM Mainframe Discussion List" > <IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU> > > > To > IBM-MAIN@BAMA.UA.EDU > cc > > Subject > Re: Wars and Allies > > > > > > > I think R. J. Rummel's "Death by Government" shines > the light of > statistics on this question. > > Stg > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access > instructions, > send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: > GET IBM-MAIN INFO > Search the archives at > http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access > instructions, > send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: > GET IBM-MAIN INFO > Search the archives at > http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html > -------------------------------------------------------------------- These days, most war (and lots of other evil) is perpetrated by the Righteous. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html