With this in mind, I d like to close by referencing a quote my father taught me. It s from an old French philosopher who, after looking at the history of every recorded democracy, found that every one of them passed through 10 fateful steps from bondage to bondage. Bondage is the first step, the place where civilization wakes up. Next is faith in God. Then with faith, men acquire courage.
Courage inevitably leads to liberty.
Liberty generates abundance the top of the arch. Every democracy which achieved abundance moved toward selfishness, the sixth step. Selfishness creates complacency. Complacency degenerates into apathy. Apathy breeds dependency, the handout stage.