10. THE SAME END FOR A DECLINING WESTERN CIVILIZATION. THOUGHTS LIKE THIS WERE VERY MUCH IN THE MINDS OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO. JOHN ADAMS WROTE, "DEMOCRACY NEVER LASTS LONG. IT SOON WASTES, EXHAUSTS, AND MURDERS ITSELF. THERE NEVER WAS A DEMOCRACY YET THAT DID NOT COMMIT SUICIDE." MR. ADAMS' CONCERNS MIGHT SEEM UNDULY PESSIMISTIC IN WHAT IS OBVIOUSLY A VERY LIVELY DEMOCRACY TODAY, BUT OUR OWN RECENT AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS - PAT MOYNIHAN, GOOD COPY AND A GREAT BREATH OF FRESH AIR - HAS PUBLICLY NOTED THAT OF THE 144 COUNTRIES REPRESENTED IN THE UNITED NATIONS, BARELY TWO DOZEN WOULD QUALIFY AS GENUINE DEMOCRACIES TODAY. IN FACT, HE FEARS THAT DEMOCRACY MIGHT BE A FADING PHENOMENON IN THIS CENTURY, JUST AS MONARCHY FADED BEFORE THE MARCH OF DEMOCRACY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.