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What are the principles of our government?
Most of us have read the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, although that may have been most recently in high school.
I’ve had a tradition for the past few years of reading at least the Declaration on the 4th of July as a way to remind myself and my family of the day the universe changed. I also keep a pocket copy of the Constitution (available here) but that’s more for spur of the moment questions and reminders.
Regardless of when and if you read the actual text, you probably remember wondering “why did they add THAT?” or “how come the government does THAT?”.
The book The Making of America by W. Cleon Skousen (author of “The 5000 Year Leap”) will answer almost every question you could ask.
It’s describes the areas of government (their roles, responsibilities, and limits) and then walks through the documents. Each portion of the document is headed by a “Principle
Although this looks like a textbook it is very readable, and makes an excellent bathroom book (that is, you can open it up anywhere, and read as much and as little as you want while still completing concepts).
For example, you will often hear skeptics and cynics say “Sure, the Constitution was written by and for rich white slaveholders…” This book shows how the practice of slavery was anathema to the Founders, and while they understood that it was a key part of the economy at that point, it was evil and to be abolished. They intended that the country be peacefully weaned off of it within 20 years.
This book deserves to be in the house of any family with school-age children or that of people concerned about our country. That is, it should be in everyone’s house.
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Tea Party is GO!
I’ve cleared our event with Parks and Recreation, and have 50 signs ready to put up around town tonight. Don’t forget to click on the Categories link for Murrieta Tea Party to see latest news and details.
I’m jazzed about the offers of help that I’ve received — it is so clear to me that this movement is a nationwide grassroots event. We CAN make a difference. First we wake up, then we go to work. We need to be calling our current legislators on the carpet NOW and planning to evict poor civil servants in Nov 2010.
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The Book That Inspired This Site
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So you’ve read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead…
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