The thoughts and ideas expressed below are exclusively those of Jack Straley and www.justplaintalkwithjack.com  We may agree, and that’s fine, or we may disagree, that’s okay too.  My sole purpose is to encourage others to think, study, and become involved. Exercise your freedom and above all, when presented the opportunity, please vote.

The following needs to be heard today and spread to every person we know.  Truth can be unpleasant to hear but reality is that history will repeat itself unless we learn from our past mistakes.  Our experiment in Democracy has endured many trials for almost two hundred fifty years.  It has lasted, but is being tested to the max today.  Our future is uncertain and we must labor fast and determined if we want to save it.

The words of Alexander Tyler, the Scottish history professor in Edinburgh, who explained the advance and decline of our world’s democracies should be heard and believed now more than ever before.  He stated that democracy would exist until such time that voters discover that they can literally vote themselves gifts from the public treasury.

From the moment that revelation is made, the majority proceeds to vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury. The final result is that every democracy finally collapses due to loose fiscal policy.  That collapse is always followed by a dictatorship.  Do you think we’re near this point yet?

He also charted out the ages of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history.  Most of them exist for about an average of 200 years, and every time these nations progressed through a certain 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. And finally, from dependence back to bondage.  Read these through carefully and decide where you think we are in today’s world.

DEFINITIONS
Bondage:  the state of being a slave.
Spiritual Faith: a profound belief or trust in a higher power, divine presence, or universal consciousness, which transcends the  limitations of human knowledge and understanding.
Courage: the ability to do something that frightens one.
Liberty:  the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views:
Abundance:  the state or condition of having a copious quantity of something; plenty:
Complacency:  a feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements:
Apathy:  Complete lack of emotion about a human being, a thing or an activity.
Dependence:  the state of relying on or being controlled by someone or something else so far as a reliance on someone or something for financial support:
Bondage:  the state of being a slave.

This cycle of societal life has repeated itself since biblical times.  Look around us, are we near the point of wandering in the desert, lost, lonely and scared?  The strongest weapon we have for our battle is the vote!  For our vote to save us it must be an informed vote.  Set aside the hate and anger that runs rampant in our society today and escape the bonds of ignorance.

Vote, get others to vote, assist others so they can vote and help with the elections.  Volunteer to be poll monitors, vote counters or any other position where you can help insure legitimate voting is taking place.

Consider: student debt relief; welfare and medical for illegal immigrants;