The spirit of freedom is a burning passion to live unrestrained. This book is a collection of thought provoking ideas, comments and essays covering certain aspects of political and economic history and what can be expected the future. The American Dream started with the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620. The American way of life is the result of subsequent events that built the greatest economic engine in the history of the world. In 2012, there is substantial evidence to suggest America is sliding back. Hopefully, this book will help stem the tide. Individualism and collectivism are forever a concern in society. The purpose of this book is to contrast those subtle and not so subtle differences. In 1952, Leonard E. Read wrote: "Man is an individual being. Man is also a social being. His material success even his existence depends on the progress of others. Yet, man's fortunes and existence depend also on himself. In some respects he is tied to others, but in most respects he must be freed from others. Defining this relationship between man and his fellow-men, discovering precisely where man should act socially and where he should act individually, has been a challenge throughout the ages. And the solution, if it has been found, is not well known in our times. Today, all over the world in America as elsewhere the social side of man is being emphasized to the detriment of man's individual side. Nothing on this earth but understanding and the clear explanation of such understanding can erase this twentieth-century catastrophe." The foregoing description is as valid today as it was in 1952 and earlier. The common thread of events is consistent and has repeated itself throughout history. We hope to clarify that common thread and enable readers to recognize the differences that affect their lives and the lives of the generations of children that follow. ABOUT THE TITLE: Living FREE refers to Liberty (Freedom) or Individualism, which is the political philosophy or ideology stressing independence and self-reliance. Individualists choose to realize their goals and desires on their own terms without external interference from government or others. FREE Living refers to Power (Force) or Collectivism, which stresses human interdependence based on a group or common interest collective. The importance of separate individuals is subservient to the interests of the group with an emphasis on community and society with priority given to group goals over individual goals. According to Kenneth A. Wells, Author of Guide to Good Leadership, "A good listener tries to understand what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but because he disagrees, he wants to know exactly what it is he is disagreeing with." So it is with this book for its readers. Our world is built on differences of opinion. Once again, one should understand what one is disagreeing with. Can you imagine what life would be like if everyone had the same thoughts and opinions? Success and failure is the Miracle-Gro(r) food of life that makes society stronger. Competition makes us better people, fosters better businesses and ultimately, enhances the lives of our families. If future generations understand the importance of individual liberty and free enterprise, they too can better enrich themselves and their families. The unique opportunity and rewards of free enterprise present the poor with an opportunity to join the wealthy. Few countries in the world offer such rewards for hard work. This book simplifies some of the issues, but is deep enough to challenge conservatives and liberals alike. Finally, the message and story line of this book is: Capitalism always wins and socialism always fails. That is the natural way of things and how life is meant to be. Don't fight the Free Enterprise Market Economy and regulate it to achieve a level playing field if you must, but for the economic good of society ... embra

The prevailing sentiment of contemporary intellectuals is that the human condition has never been better. History is regarded as lengthy episode of oppression that human beings have gradually but steadily fought to overcome with considerable success. Evidence of these successes that are commonly offered include increased material consumption, better health and longer life expectancy, technological development and, above all, the ongoing triumph of "democracy" and "human rights." However, the nineteenth and twentieth century produced an array of dissident thinkers that expressed a great skepticism of modern civilization. Their individual critiques were often vastly different from one another. Yet the common idea that emerges from work of these genuine intellectual mavericks is one that laments the loss of traditional societies, and pessimism about the new world that modernity has brought. Instead, the modern project has been regarded by thinkers as different as Nietzsche, G.K. Chesterton and Alain De Benoist to have been a cultural and spiritual degeneration that diminished rather than elevated the nobility of man. This work by Keith Preston examines the ideas of these thinkers, and considers the potential relevance of their insights in the postmodern age.

In the wake of the 2007 financial crisis, people wanted answers. How did this happen? Who is accountable? Will this happen again? True to form, government and the media made certain the public got those answers - answers that were simple and readily accepted. Sadly, the answers the public were given were not just simple and easy, they were also unquestionably, absolutely wrong. The Economics of Conservatism is a no-holds-barred critique of political economy, penned in response to the inadequacies and hyperbole of the economic analysis being presented to the public, and investors. This direct and urgent plea for a different point of view on economics and politics provides a detailed assessment of what we are doing, why we should stop doing it, and what we should do instead. In the process, the book provides a general overview of economics, with references to the thinking and writings of four of the most influential economists of the modern age: Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. With a didactic tone and an unapologetically conservative bent, The Economics of Conservatism guides readers through an analysis of the current state of economic affairs to shed light on another way of looking at these topics, revealing an approach that is no longer part of the mainstream curricula. The Economics of Conservatism starts from the premise that politics and economics are not separate sciences, and that economics - as we think of the field of study today - is not so much a science, but a tool of social engineering. Worse yet, the theoretical separation of politics and economics has thoroughly wreaked havoc in the thought process and analysis of those charged with the task of providing objective advice to policy makers. Fortunately, by looking to the spirit and the letter of the words of the great minds of economics and conservative thought, there is clarity and purpose that will allow us to extricate ourselves from our present situation in the hopes that liberty, prosperity, and the rule of law may be preserved and expanded for future generations.

Before Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, there was Jesse Helms. From in front of a camera at WRAL-TV, Helms forged a new brand of southern conservatism long before he was a senator from North Carolina. As executive vice president of the station, Helms delivered commentaries on the evening news and directed the news and entertainment programming. He pioneered the attack on the liberal media, and his editorials were some of the first shots fired in the culture wars, criticizing the influence of "immoral entertainment." Through the emerging power of the household television Helms established a blueprint and laid the foundation for the modern conservative movement. Bryan Thrift mines over 2,700 WRAL-TV "Viewpoint" editorials broadcast between 1960 and 1972 to offer not only a portrait of a skilled rhetorician and wordsmith but also a lens on the way the various, and at times competing, elements of modern American conservatism cohered into an ideology couched in the language of anti-elitism and "traditional values." Decades prior to the invention of the blog, Helms corresponded with his viewers to select, refine, and sharpen his political message until he had reworked southern traditionalism into a national conservative movement. The realignment of southern Democrats into the Republican Party was not easy or inevitable, and by examining Helms's oft-forgotten journalism career, Thrift shows how delicately and deliberately this transition had to be cultivated.

Barack Obama wasn't the only beneficiary of the calamitous Bush years. Something of an industry punchline since its formation in 1996, MSNBC suddenly gained a comprehensible voice during the era, while pinning its hopes upon the inspiring senator from Illinois. Obama's victory spelled success for the network, which saw a sizable ratings increase and began positioning itself as a viable alternative to the right-wing propaganda of Fox News. However, a close inspection of the station's programming and an analysis of their celebrity hosts generate troubling questions about the state of the American media. MSNBC has shilled for Obama's wars, defended the administration's illegal spying programs and failed to hold our broken political system accountable. Medium Blue serves as a primer to help navigate the ultimate futility of our distinguished liberal media.

Join Senator Ted Kennedy and President Ronald Reagan in the greatest debate in history Don't miss this opportunity to experience Kennedy and Reagan as they share their life stories and philosophies while they discuss and debate the most important issues of our time. Who will win? All lovers of politics and history will enjoy reading the ultimate Democrat/Republican philosophical debate. Imagine yourself in the same room with Ted Kennedy and Ronald Reagan as they eloquently duel each other to convince Americans that their own philosophies are the best for the future of the United States. Have a front row seat to relive history in Kennedy and Reagan's own words while they spar with each other. Read the play that emotionally moved audiences on stage in New York City and is also performed by its author, John C. Kendall, in the movie version which is currently available on amazon.com movies. In a review of the movie version of this play the following comments were made by Dr. Myles Martel, President Reagan's debate coach, "Your representations of Reagan and Kennedy are terrific. You have captured well --impressively-- the essence of both their personalities and political philosophies--hardly an easy feat. Further, I am quite taken with your acting and producing talent."

On February 19, 2009, CNBC commentator Rick Santelli delivered a dramatic rant against Obama administration programs to shore up the plunging housing market. Invoking the Founding Fathers and ridiculing "losers" who could not pay their mortgages, Santelli called for "Tea Party" protests. Over the next two years, conservative activists took to the streets and airways, built hundreds of local Tea Party groups, and weighed in with votes and money to help right-wing Republicans win electoral victories in 2010. In this penetrating new study, Harvard University's Theda Skocpol and Vanessa Williamson go beyond images of protesters in Colonial costumes to provide a nuanced portrait of the Tea Party. What they find is sometimes surprising. Drawing on grassroots interviews and visits to local meetings in several regions, they find that older, middle-class Tea Partiers mostly approve of Social Security, Medicare, and generous benefits for military veterans. Their opposition to "big government" entails reluctance to pay taxes to help people viewed as undeserving "freeloaders" - including immigrants, lower income earners, and the young. At the national level, Tea Party elites and funders leverage grassroots energy to further longstanding goals such as tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation of business, and privatization of the very same Social Security and Medicare programs on which many grassroots Tea Partiers depend. Elites and grassroots are nevertheless united in hatred of Barack Obama and determination to push the Republican Party sharply to the right. The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism combines fine-grained portraits of local Tea Party members and chapters with an overarching analysis of the movement's rise, impact, and likely fate.

Republicans have proven adept at getting middle-class voters to vote against their own pocketbooks. George W. Bush and his advisors promised economic growth, jobs and an ownership society but delivered a housing finance bubble, Wall Street profits fueled by fraud, a recession, budget deficits, low economic growth, massive job losses and upward transfers of middle-class wealth.

In Fools and Knaves, author Howard Green explores both the short-term and long-term effects of Republican-controlled government on the nation. When the Republicans left town, they handed the tab for clean-up to taxpayers and then obstructed every effort to repair the economy that they broke. What s more, they now favor cuts to government programs for the poor, government shutdowns, and threats of credit default. The financial crisis of 2007 was no accident; it flowed from GOP policies that were intended to benefit the 1 percent as well as themselves. Republicans succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, and today the wealthiest among us pocket virtually all the gains associated with the rebuilding of our economy. Meanwhile, the middle-class suffers home foreclosures, job losses, and reductions in real income.

Fools and Knaves makes it clear that while appealing largely to social conservatives and older, white, blue-collar voters, Republicans make promises to the middle class but actually deliver results only to the wealthy. Everyone else especially those who are younger, better educated, female, and from minority households is now getting the message: Republicans have nothing to offer them."

Shelter in a Storm brings together the personal and the political to ask: What is neoliberalism? How does it harm women? And what can be done about it? The book looks at how three YWCA women's shelters in Ontario were affected by the neoliberal policies of Mike Harris's Progressive Conservative government and the subsequent "new-neoliberal" policies of Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government. Drawing on interviews with forty-one staff, clients, volunteers, and activists, Shelter in a Storm exposes the dangers for women that are embedded in neoliberal policies and reveals the value of revitalizing feminism to counteract this powerful ideology.

What is wrong with left radical politicians or their policies? To answer that question I would need another 100 years of life on earth to write them all down. Right Wing Poems: Satirical Poetry is a book of short witty and whimsical poems about the left. They are amusing to read and install a message of what is wrong today with the liberal ideology. The satirical poetry delivers a conservative message which will leave you to ponder and soon realize this great Republic is beginning to crumble under idiotic looney Democratic political beliefs and policies. If your beliefs are conservative, right wing or maybe you are just one of the "hobbits," referred to by the Democrats, you will enjoy these poems along with some delightful illustrations. Get yourself a copy today. Relax with your favorite cup of coffee or light up a grand ole cigar. Sit back and prop your feet up. Enjoy a good laugh and a few great moments while you read Right Wing Poems: Satirical Poetry.