Release date: 05/29/2016
ISBN: 1523417048
Synopsis: History tells us that democracy is a grand experiment, but one that is often doomed to fail. They have been called *temporary* forms of government, and in this book, Greene explains the causes of America’s failing health: Corruption, legislative deadlock, class conflict, an ineffective foreign policy, and sheer mismanagement of the government bureaucracy. These seemingly inevitable curses of maturity afflict us today but the author shows how common sense leadership could deal with them-─if we just concentrate on the real problems and separate the wheat from the chaff:
We are simply watching as our soldiers die in foreign lands, fighting wars we don’t understand, and the national debt spirals upward, while our leaders bicker over trans-gender bathrooms, play golf, and argue over who’s a “True Conservative.” There is a wake-up call: to not re-elect those who hide behind such nonsense! It’s up to the voters, Greene explains, to end the bickering and start making sound decisions; and above all, turn down the hot-button social issues that the politicians inflame to distract the voters. America’s future will not be determined by background checks for gun permits, or whether we tear down Civil War statues, or outlaw hate speech.
The author, who has spent his life reorganizing and managing a variety of organizations, reveals how just managing the government properly and honestly could restore our country’s strength. And he pokes fun at many current politically correct fancies:
- On “Multiculturalism,” ── People, cultures, and religions are not equal— some are better than others, and some are plain awful!
- On “Diversity” ── Differences can be both good and bad. The best mix is one that’s all good!
- On “Leadership” ── America is not the world’s policeman, priest, or savior. World leadership comes from moral and economic example—not from drones, bombs, or lectures.
- Our worst enemies ── Not ISIS, Russia, or China—the worst enemies are right here at home.
- On “theocracies” ── It is no coincidence that there have never been successful democracies in theocratic cultures. Individual freedom and representative governments are unacceptable to a clerisy, which operates as a religion deisguised as a dictatorship.
Readers will get a brief review of the history of democracies and the people that made them great. Greene explains why democracies can only work for self-reliant and moral populations. The people who built America were sustained by a unique cultural tradition founded on the principles of liberty, human dignity, and the Judeo-Christian religions. The author suggests that without the careful maintenance of that culture America’s future could resemble the dystopias of Huxley and Orwell—and how we have already started on those paths.
America is known for business and free enterprise──many of the world’s greatest corporations are home-grown──and yet we elect amateurs to lead the nation. Very few of our presidents or legislators have ever brought real-world experience or management expertise to their government jobs. But their job is to run the federal bureaucracy—one of the largest “businesses” on earth!
Greene points out that there is no damage that some common sense leadership and a little tinkering can’t fix. He details how, if the entitlement programs and the IRS were reorganized and managed efficiently, we could wipe out the deficit with the savings. Instead, the pols argue about theories, foreign affairs, and ideology.
Preview Book
Table of Contents
- Introduction (p4)
- Part I – Are all People and Governments Equal?
- Chapter 1 — Are Democracies Really all that Great? (p12)
- Chapter 2 — Are We Really All Equal?? (p20)
- Chapter 3 — Measuring People – What’s Good? (p27)
- Chapter 4 — Measuring Governments – What’s Good? (p34)
- Part II – What is so Special about Human Beings?
- Chapter 5 — What Makes Us Unique – The Background of Modern Man (p43)
- Chapter 6 — The Twenty-Five Year Factor; Apprentices and Achieving Adulthood (p51)
- Chapter 7 — How Culture Shapes Individuals. (p57)
- Chapter 8 — The Nature Nurture Debate (p66)
- Chapter 9 — Free Will and All That (p72)
- Chapter 10 — Survival of the Fittest; Past and Present (p77)
- Part III – Civil Societies – False Starts & Good Starts
- Chapter 11 — Voluntary and Involuntary Migrations (p86)
- Chapter 12 — Utopias and Dystopias; Dreams and Nightmares (p99)
- Chapter 13 — The Role of Religion: Past, Present, and Future (p108)
- Chapter 14 — What Makes a Society Successful? The Radzewicz Rule Revisited (p120)
- Part IV — Today’s Problems; The Friends and Enemies of Democracy
- Chapter 15 — The Age of the Experts, Intellectuals, SAT Tests, and Abstract Thinking (p129)
- Chapter 16 — Socialism and Safety Nets; Can Compassion Lead to Tyranny? (p141)
- Chapter 17 — Demographics; The Problem with People (p155)
- Chapter 18 — Is There an Acceptable Degree of Income Inequality? (p162)
- Part V – The Future – Where Are We Going ??
- Chapter 19 — The Need for Proper Measures of Man (p168)
- Chapter 20 — Eugenics and all That; Population Control (p175)
- Chapter 21 — Good Management Could Trump Ideology (p182)
- Chapter 22 — Was Huxley Right? (p188)
- Notes (p196-200)