The Nine Stages Of Civilization / We're In The Seventh ~ Apathy

The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through a nine stage 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 complacency; from complacence to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependency back again into bondage. ( Attributed to Alexander Tytler )

In our present Plutocracy we have just made the transition from complacency to national apathy ~ which will surely be followed by dependence on the state and eventually bondage by the state. As Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General, has said ~  " We're not a democracy. It's a terrible misunderstanding and a slander to the idea of democracy to call us that. In reality, we're a plutocracy: a government by the wealthy."  

The obvious vehicle for this shift in consciousness is FEAR and APATHY. FEAR, in actuality, is False Exaggerations Appearing Real but APATHY is a lack of interest and indifference and it has always been the Great American Sin. See my column of August 27, 2007. http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2007/08/27.html 

Unless we as individuals, and then as a nation, conquer fear and apathy we are doomed to dependence and then bondage by a state ruled by the wealthy. That state of dependence is drawing near and only faith and the great courage of civil revolt and even civil disobedience can revitalize this nation ~ particularly with a major economic depression increasingly making its presence felt.   

Allen L Roland   http://blogs.salon.com/0002255/2009/06/23.html