Democracy Twilight
I used to think Democracy was an almost perfect system,
Many views would clash, but if there were lies, we would resist them.
I don't believe that now; the balance isn't there,
We drift with no anchor, a paper dragon in the air.
Our debt has risen to "thirty-eight trillion", it never will decrease
With that debt can we keep the peace?
Can we defend the nation, as the arms balance tips
Russia alone makes more ammo, China makes more ships.
People can't afford a house, even with a job,
Interest on our debt is an intergeneration rob.
Most like socialism in Generation Z,
I am disheartened so I look at quotes on Democracy.
Thousands of years ago, some Greek states had the people's voice,
And some did not; a laboratory of different choice.
Plato said "Dictatorship rises out of democracy
and aggravated tyranny rises from extreme liberty."
Aristotle thought that in our system, "rule is by and for the poor,"
We should not pander to any group, that is not the cure.
I look at our debt and doom is what I expect
For when the public purse runs dry, who will write the welfare check?
Then in the 1700s, Alexander Tytler, not a democrat,
May have said the following, though there is doubt on that.
"Democracy can only exist until the voters see
that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury."
John Adams helped to found the U.S., for this he could take pride;
But said that "There never was a democracy that did not commit suicide.""
A grim remark from long ago, yet it echoes in our day,
A prophecy that feels too close, as our institutions fray.
There are free people who don't give a damn
Like Erdogan, who said, "Democracy is like a tram."
"You ride it only until you arrive at your destination"
Now president of Turkey, he's stopped at the dictator station.
In Nicaragua, Venezuela, the people s choice became their cage,
It's easy to vote yourself in; you can't turn back the page.
Dictators bring in the Russians, sometimes Chinese and Iranians too
Good luck reversing that, nothing an ordinary guy can do.
I'll add a quote by Wahhaj Siraj to this quote montage
Mayor of New York Mamdani was pals with old Wahhaj.
Wahhaj feels democracy is obsolete after the prophet came.
"So-called democracy will crumble, and only Islam will remain."
We should at least raise the question now, while our minds are free:
Will the founder's experiment survive the century?
I wish I could be certain, wish my confidence was intact
But hope conflicts with observation, left and right have cracked.
Euripides said "Whom the gods destroy, they first make mad"
If we lose the truth, we lose everything we had.
Events unanticipated, the founders could not foresee
Nothing lasts forever; there is no guarantee.
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