We are murdering industrial America, self-reliant America, entrepreneurial America, confident America, proud America. In its place we erect a welfare state, a nanny state, a parental state, a nation of dependent adults. Call it whatever you like. We stumble along, bitterly divided, not so far behind Western Europe. Is this good? If that is what we really want and freely vote for it. No non controversial moral principle forbids us to follow this course. But are we sufficiently aware of the not only economic price that we must inevitably pay? The salient question is why? Was this historically incomparable nation built on parental government principles? Can such a government guarantee greater freedom? Justice? Fairness? Compassion? Equality? Voters have repeatedly answered yes. To all the above questions this book forcefully answers no. The chapters focus on two overarching themes. One, the world, with emphasis on the United States, is in a potential deadly moral crisis as harmful principles and practices displace traditional ones among which many bring equal harm. Second, the book argues that the political solutions that we commonly apply to satisfy our needs must inevitably fail to achieve their purpose simply because our moral dilemma and political problems are not at root political. They cannot be resolved by electing the “right” political party. This book presents a compelling argument that the tiresome squabbling in Congress will never achieve anything constructive until we adopt a radically different view of ourselves as individuals and begin to move our nation in a much healthier direction.
