I wonder — was our recent election really just one more choice of one more president for one more term, or did we just pass a tipping point?
Some 175 years ago, when our democracy was still a rare form of government, a Frenchman, Alexis de Tocqueville, traveled widely throughout our United States preparatory to writing a book best known as Democracy In America. In that book he wrote that a democracy “…cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury.
"From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years."
I wonder — have we just proved de Tocqueville to be correct?
I hope not, but I do wonder. I also fear.
About the Author
Ralph Hood
Certified Speaking Professional
Ralph Hood is a Certified Speaking Professional who has addressed aviation groups throughout North America. A pilot since 1969, he's insured and sold airplanes at retail and distributor levels and taught aviation management for Southern Illinois University.
Ralph Hood is also an award-winning columnist (he writes for several publications), a salesman and sales manager (he sold airplanes, for crying out loud!), a teacher (he taught college-level aviation management) and a professional public speaker who has entertained and enlightened audiences from Hawaii to Spain, and from Fairbanks to Puerto Rico.
- Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), National Speakers Association
- Past member, National Ethics Committee, National Speakers Association
- Past president of Alabama Speakers Association
- Member, Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame
- Past National Marketing Mentor, AOPA Project Pilot