My Purpose in Writing this Book

I wrote this book because, like many citizens, I am concerned that our national government, particularly our Congress, has lost its intended focus on serving the nation, by failing to develop truly national policies that reflect the needs and concerns of most Americans as its first priority. But I am equally concerned about the increasing divisiveness in our citizenry. This is reflected in the intolerance and disregard of the political points of view of other citizens who have a different life experience and circumstance than ourselves. But it is also expressed in the demand for personal liberty even at the expense of community welfare, and a growing minority of citizens resorting to violence to oppose the legal actions focused on, and the elected or appointed public officials responsible for, ensuring community welfare.

In 2021, these actions led to a historic challenge to the core elements of our democracy. The losing candidate and many senior government leaders lied about the integrity of a national election, coerced state officials to overturn the certified votes of the citizens without factual evidence of invalid results or illegal processes, and cheered or downplayed the violent actions of a mob in occupying the Capitol and disrupting the Constitutionally required process of counting and certifying the national Electoral College votes in Congress.

It was President Lincoln who stated in 1858 as the Civil War loomed, that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Unless we agree as a country that “We the People” need to unite to change our political system and our divisive culture, I fear that we will be the first generation to pass on a weaker democracy and economy and a less secure country to our grandchildren than our grandparents passed on to us.