Perhaps a bit overstated, but the following has haunted me for some time…
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."
I am honestly starting to think you could win political office by promising massive spending to all and simultaneous tax cuts. The problem with democracies, I suppose, is that we ass/u/me some level of intelect, research, and untilitarianism from those who vote. I hate, e.g., the "get out the vote" campaigns – I have known and respected many who would cancel my vote and welcome their contribution. But, the idea that some 18 y/o who hasn't even bothered to read the ballot measure and has no job / income / property / or work ethic will go in and vote "just 'cause P Diddy said he should" bothers me.
One of the primary reasons I am so pessimistic (bearish) on the markets is I just think we've become too polarzied to operate efficiently. We are well behind our industrialized counterparts in education and other measures of our future potential but all we seem to be able to do is boil issues down to sound bites. There are, IMHO, very few "low hanging fruit" anymore – no easy solutions. Tax cuts DO spur the economy (the Laffer curve has been revalidated again under Bush); but lets also not pretend that the immediate beneficiaries don't really need the relief as much as others. Social Security… same mess. We're a society that values displays of wealth, instant gratification, and fosters a sense of entitlement. So, with "all politics being local" I just doubt we'll ever get to a point when we'd elect someone who would do what was best for the long term common good as opposed to those partisans who he/she hopes to carry their reelection campaign.
