Krentel, on Aug 16 2016 - 12:51, said:
America was not created as a democracy. It was created as a republic and this is why.
"Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There was never a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." - John Adams.
"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." - Alexander Fraser Tytler
Your quote from Tyler where he is absolutely wrong about time frame or has a totally different criteria for the term great.