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I prefer non-fiction books and other documentary-type materials including current events. But I'm a sucker for a good title. One favorite resource is "Book TV" on C-Span 2 on the weekends.

Blog Url: http://wichitafalls.yourhub.com/~drix

Where Dicatators Come From

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Contributed by: David Rix on 12/13/2008

Dictators/autocrats/despots/tyrants/sheep-in-wolves'-clothing can come from the incompetence-deliberate or no-of those already in power. Dictators can happen when the so-called good people in government don't take care of business and the country turns into a series of crises resulting in total chaos. Dictators can also happen when those greedy for money and/or power that are already in government or other powerful positions pave the way. Then any good orator who can make promises-a chicken in every pot, a car in every garage, a single family dwelling for the ignorant or deceived, or just salvation in general-can ascend to the throne.

And dictators can rule very effectively even in a country with a We-the-People façade. It's even easier when their cronies are also in positions of power. Often the cronies make it possible for the dictator to ascend. They can take a month off, they can conduct hearings on major league baseball (a.k.a. "grown men playing kids' games"), they can in general tell other people how to raise their kids, how to educate their kids, what kind of light bulbs to buy, where to get their medical care, where to send the check, in general how to live their lives. That level of control over others is very heady stuff.

*But, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens."

*James Madison's Supreme Court nominee, Justice Joseph Story, wrote, "Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them."

*John Adams wrote, "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other..."

*Samuel Adams wrote, "Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt.... No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders...."

*George Washington wrote, "A good moral character is the first essential in a man, and that the habits contracted [early in life] are generally indelible, and your conduct here may stamp your character through life. It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous...."

*Source of quotes: http://patriotpost.us/

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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments

Submitted By: Gene Griffin

posted on 12/14/2008 @ 9:50:55 AM

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Very good, David.

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Submitted By: Beverly McClure

posted on 12/13/2008 @ 6:42:38 PM

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We live in a scary world.

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Submitted By: Nancy Dickerson

posted on 12/13/2008 @ 6:08:47 PM

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You remember, of course, that it was Ronald Reagan who said that if some people showed up on your doorstep and said that they were from the government and were here to help you---well, running isn't going to do any good but---you should be scared---very scared. Thanks for the reminders, Mr. Rix.

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David Rix

Wichita Falls , TX

David Rix has posted 8 blog entries and 15 comments since joining on 7/4/2008. David Rix 's average blog rating is 4.88.

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