The Uncanny, Prophetic Insights of Alexander Tytler

This article was first published by Fox News on August 21st, 2026 and on our Substack.

A Democracy Cannot Exist as a Permanent Form of Government.

Alexander Tytler was a Scottish judge and historian, born in 1747, died in 1813. Over 200 years ago he wrote this prophetic quote:

"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. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage.”

This was not a random observation; it was based on studying history and observation of what really happened to advanced civilizations and republics which came before.

This is exactly what is happening to our country today.

Think about what he said and look realistically at the facts of today. First, let me put this in perspective.

Our founders were all statesmen, sacrificing much to create an independent country based on a well-conceived government structure unlike any that came before. Their efforts were for the common good. They all had jobs and families but devoted much to the creation of a system of government that resulted in this great country.

Today we are governed by professional politicians, many of whom have never signed the front of a paycheck, their working careers mostly in government. Many have never started or run a business or know the difficulties of creating and running a profitable business. Those that have done this, understand what is happening today, but are unable to move the needle to fiscal sanity. I have read the book by the late Senator Tom Coburn, of Oklahoma, a physician by trade, who tried in vain to get to fiscal sanity.

Tom Coburn’s book The Debt Bomb, saw what was coming 15 years ago. https://www.amazon.com/Debt-Bomb-Washington-Bankrupting-America/dp/159555467X

The problems he foresaw have arrived and this is recognized by those who can see objectively what is happening today. The financial problems he saw coming are upon us. Just look at the facts.

Our federal debt today is almost $40 trillion and will pass that mark within a month. It has increased $3 trillion over the last 12 months (even though our deficit is purported to be around $2 trillion). Our debt related to the economy, GDP, is 125%, the highest ever and in a serious danger zone, even higher than after the expense of WWII.

But now instead of fiscal responsibility like we had after the War, we have fiscal irresponsibility. Based on current policies the debt and ratio is forecast to grow remarkably and continually with the debt reaching at least $64 trillion in 10 years.

Those projections do not consider any new programs, wars, recessions, etc. which will happen.

By the way, there are also $86 trillion of unfunded obligations from Social Security and Medicare. Promises made for future benefits that there are no funds to cover.

Re-read that last paragraph closely. What are we doing to ourselves? Have we lost all understanding of economics and financial prudence? And we have our new wave social democrats demanding more and more expensive programs, without a clue as to how realistically to pay for them.

Tax the Rich, they say. Every economist who has studied this knows this cannot cover even the deficits of today much less pay for the expensive new programs they promote. Sounds great until you get to reality. There is no conceivable way to pay for all these things without growth killing enormous taxes on everyone.

Our system in the past of limited government and financial responsibility has produced the richest and strongest country the world has ever known, far outpacing the standard of living of the other western countries. Do we want to emulate them and their lower standard of living? Not for me. We need get a grip on the situation now, before we go over the fiscal cliff.

But that is where we are headed at this moment. Alexander Tytler was right, we are doing to ourselves exactly what he predicted. Only we citizens can prove him wrong by understanding the issue and demanding Congress fix the mess that they created.

Bottom Line

Citizens – hear my plea. Get the facts, demand Congress get to fiscal sanity, and let’s collectively prove Alexander Tytler wrong.