Monday, March 16, 2009

5000 Year Leap

I started a book called "The 5000 Year Leap" this weekend. I am only ~30 pages in, and I have seen the future. 3 pages in I told Jaime that we need to buy this book because I wanted to highlight parts of it. This book displays the principles that the founders used to form the constitution. It shows the issues that the founders faced and how they constructed the constitution to avoid the extremes of Tyranny and Anarchy.

I am ignorant about a lot of things, but learning about our history has been one of the most enlightening things in my life. Seeing parts of how America operated from 1607 to 1787 (180 years, from settling to ratification of the constitution) is quite interesting. One might assume that 180 years of slave labor and dubious free land acquisition would lead to great wealth. It didn't, in our history. The early days of the United States almost fell into anarchy because the law was too weak; people took matters into their own hands. It wasn't until the constitution was written and enacted that the country really began to prosper. It wasn't until the government was properly controlled, and a balanced law was in place that free markets began to work, which created the wealth that we know.

If you haven't read it already, get "The 5000 Year Leap", by W. Cleon Skousen and read it immediately. I don't think our schools teach this stuff anymore. My kids will read it.

1 comment:

  1. I looked for a copy of it online (amazon) and could only find a CD/Book combo. You'll have to look and see if it is what you are looking for. I'm looking forward to reading it when you're done! :)

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