wrote in message
...
On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:56:15 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

Funny how everyone slams "entitlements" right up until it affects their
social security, medicare, police/fire/infrastructure in their
neighborhood,
EMT availability, library access, etc. Then, it's don't touch. If people
don't want entitlements, then they should vote against them and vote out
any
politician that promotes funding them. So far, that hasn't happened, and
there doesn't appear to be any strong movement to do so.


We can look at Greece to get an idea about what can happen to
"entitlements" when they are unrealistic.
My Alexander Tyler quote still seems right

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

Sorry, but I disagree with Tyler. Firstly, democracy by definition isn't a
fixed object. It's an idea and it has endured in one form or another for
several 1000 years. Ancient Greece is a great example. That particular
culture failed, but not because of democracy. Our culture may fail, but not
because of democracy.


"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"


We are at about #6 right now. BP would say we were closer to #8

Which entitlements don't you think are appropriate? I'm sure there are lots
of example of things that make no sense, but there are many more that make
perfect sense and are appropriate and necessary. BP isn't a democracy. It's
a for-profit corporation. It (and similar) need to be regulated, since
corporations don't give a fig about democracy or the public good. They're
only concerned with the corporate good. Capitalism, in its purest form, is
unworkable and must be tempered with social consciousness.