In 1972, I wrote a paper entitled, "Will the Soviet Union Survive until 1984: A Question of Open dissent." The date was a little Orwellian, but I wasn't far off. The Soviet Union Collapsed in 1991. Historically, every civilization has gone through the same social, religious and political chronologies, all ending with the collapse of the civilization. Countries and systems of government are no different. There are 195 countries in the world today. The majority are republics, including the United States.
Every republic in history has failed
The average age throughout history of the world's republics has been about 200 years.
The oldest republic today is that of San Marino. It was declared a republic, independent of the Roman Empire, in 301. In addition to San Marino, there are only three republics that are older than that of the United States (1783). One has always wondered about the United States and how long it will last and today, one has to ask the question "Will the United States survive until 2024? Why 2024? This would be the end of the 2nd Presidential term of Donald Trump, if he were to be elected for a 2nd term. One also has to ask "How Long will Our Democracy Last?" even though we were not set up as a democracy by our founding fathers, but as a republic.
The republic of the United States was founded on September 3, 1783 and is 235 years old.
The experiment of our democratic republic has lasted longer than most. The United States is the fifth oldest republic in existence today. In addition to San Marino, the Netherlands (1581), Switzerland (1648) and England (1649) are the only republics older than that of the United States. In essence however, the United States is not a pure republic, but a Democratic Republic.
As a political unit, the United States is headed by a president and one in which the supreme power is to rest in a body of citizens entitled to vote. Officers and representatives are elected and answer to the people. They are to govern according to law. In terms of a democracy, it is a government by the people where the majority is to rule.
What did the founding fathers want to establish?
The founding fathers wanted the individual States to govern themselves with a loose Federal Government protecting them from outside threats and making decisions concerning multiple States, treaties with foreign governments and regulating commerce. They deliberated and got their ideas from many influences including: John Locke's ideas about "natural rights" and the "social contract" theory of government, the language and arguments from the "English Bill of Rights of 1689," much of the history and works from classical antiquity, including the Roman Republic, the political and social theories of Puritanism and even possibly from the Iroquois Nation.
Thomas Jefferson summed it up in the Declaration of Independence.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. - That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, - That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." This was, of course, a challenge to the King and England, but also a bold statement or directive to the basic foundation of the new nation.
Thomas Jefferson's prediction
Jefferson further stated "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
Today however, it is not difficult to see that the United States is following in the historical footprints left by those before it. The government has created a nation that's divisiveness is rapidly approaching that of the Civil War. The United States, with an authoritarian president that has the lowest approval ratings in history and a Senate and House Of Representatives that is dysfunctional, is on the brink of dramatic and historical change. The people of the United States must stop trading their liberties for security.
They must not continue to allow the government to be involved in all the aspects of their lives. They must understand that as the government expands, their liberties disappear.
It is very clear today, however, that the people of the United States are in subjection to a government that is headed by a ruling elite that has set its total control up over time through its two party system. Jefferson's words have not been heeded. The Democrats and the Republicans, controlled by lobbying interests, have set up in the Senate and the House of Representatives a self perpetuating control of the people who they are supposed to represent.
The people of the United States have allowed government to replace their liberty with government programs that have been created by the wealthy.
They have placed their faith in those whom they elected to office to represent them, but, it is these individuals who have promised to do the will of those who voted them into office, who have set up structures and laws, voting late at night and quickly pushing them through the legislative processes, ignoring the interests of most people, that have now taken the real personal freedoms from people in exchange for personal benefits.
Our democracy is ceasing to be a democracy. We now have a Federal Government that creates new "rights" and cancels existing ones; that restructures society, the economy and the law despite the will of the people. The ideas and ideals of the men who wrote our Constitution have died and with them, the death of our Republic is inevitable and will follow shortly, as all other republics in history. Will the United States disappear? Will it collapse? Perhaps not, but it will not exist as it does today.
