When you look at the history of the greatest civilizations you see a trend toward ever growing government, ever expanding debt, until the government ultimately controls all business and all activities. In the case of ancient civilizations the time before collapse was offset due to smuggling abilities and ways around taxes that could be preformed by the common man. After these tax avoiding systems were patched either though better regulation or military force the civilization would then collapse under the weight of is debt and it's tattered economy.

Smaller government, limited centralized power, and having every generation pay of any debts it incurred was the formula for the success of this nation. It is the foundation of a system built from the bottom up where the power and decisions are made close to home in order to preserve freedom. The danger this nation faces is the total disregard for the authority of the Constitution. The fact that a pyramid can not stand upside down was no mystery to our founders. Just remember:

No reasonable man would argue that a pyramid is best supported when its power is derived from a wide base and then distributed upward amongst ever smaller rows. For each row places weight on the base so that if each subsequent row became too much larger than the row before it the foundation may crack. If a pyramid was to be constructed upside down the small rows of stone at the bottom could not withstand the weight of the subsequent rows without external supports strong enough to bound forever the pyramid in place. In this case is the pyramid truly supporting itself or relying on the force of chains, straps and rope to hold it together? No different is the rule of government from the rules of a pyramid. -ZERO <ibis>