The Rise And Fall Of The American Republic

In an age when the supply of gasoline to feed this modern American society has become both more expensive and more scarce questions are being pondered. Inquires like, How can a modern society scale back its dependence on gasoline as a motive source?' Are there genuine alternative power sources?' Are they the answer to a growing crisis?' Recent announcements of hybrids like those from Honda, Toyota, and Ford have really brought attention to this issue. Hybrids that use both gasoline engines and electric motors. Really, though, alternative power sources have been around for as long as the automobile has been. The battle between and among the steam car, the electric and the gas car was fought out in the first couple of decades of the twentieth century. This book explores the ins and outs of that battle. A struggle from which the gasoline car emerged completely victorious. To such an extent that steam cars and electric cars virtually disappeared from the scene for many decades. We will look over all three alternatives, exploring their advantages and disadvantages. We will also look over the obstacles to the steamers and the electrics. Barriers that still exist to a certain extent. Handicaps that caused their disappearance in the first place.

“Audacious . . . offers a fierce critique of democracy’s most dangerous adversary: the abuse of democratic power by democratically elected chief executives.” (Benjamin R. Barber, New York Times bestselling author of Jihad vs. McWorld ) Bruce Ackerman shows how the institutional dynamics of the last half-century have transformed the American presidency into a potential platform for political extremism and lawlessness. Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the War on Terror are only symptoms of deeper pathologies. Ackerman points to a series of developments that have previously been treated independently of one another?from the rise of presidential primaries, to the role of pollsters and media gurus, to the centralization of power in White House czars, to the politicization of the military, to the manipulation of constitutional doctrine to justify presidential power-grabs. He shows how these different transformations can interact to generate profound constitutional crises in the twenty-first century?and then proposes a series of reforms that will minimize, if not eliminate, the risks going forward. “The questions [Ackerman] raises regarding the threat of the American Executive to the republic are daunting. This fascinating book does an admirable job of laying them out.” —The Rumpus “Ackerman worries that the office of the presidency will continue to grow in political influence in the coming years, opening possibilities for abuse of power if not outright despotism.” —Boston Globe “A serious attention-getter.” —Joyce Appleby, author of The Relentless Revolution “Those who care about the future of our nation should pay careful heed to Ackerman’s warning, as well as to his prescriptions for avoiding a constitutional disaster.” —Geoffrey R. Stone, author of Perilous Times

Throughout our country's existence there have been those who didn't approve of our form of government. Those with other ideologies have tried to influence our governance since the beginning of our nation. Only one has succeeded on a grand scale: Throughout the twentieth century, and continuing today, a long-term plan to replace our Capitalist society has been in place and is incrementally growing stronger. By infiltrating every aspect of American interaction, as documented in the book, our enemy continues to garner more and more support of the people. You won't want to believe what you read. Many in Washington are happy about that, and most, not all public figures are reluctant to call it what it is. You need this info to decide for yourself. By promoting discontent where there was none, they have divided our nation by socioeconomics, race, ethnicity, religion, and politics. There are exaggerated issues of racism, the rich and the poor, business vs. the working class, climate change, entitlements vs. hard work, Socialism vs. Capitalism, and Conservatism vs. Liberalism. All these deceitful distractions are productive tools of our enemy that divert our attention from the master plan to fully install a new form of government that gives full control of our lives to the government. Most Americans, as well as most politicians, are too distracted by the minutiae mentioned above to see the big picture that this book details. There are no longer enough people who understand or are willing to defend the Constitution that enabled US to become the greatest nation in history while it was strictly interpreted. I fear it is too late to reverse the process now. URGENT UPDATE- email [email protected] for a free Bonus Chapter.

Tom Paine’s America explores the vibrant, transatlantic traffic in people, ideas, and texts that profoundly shaped American political debate in the 1790s. In 1789, when the Federal Constitution was ratified, "democracy" was a controversial term that very few Americans used to describe their new political system. That changed when the French Revolution—and the wave of democratic radicalism that it touched off around the Atlantic World—inspired a growing number of Americans to imagine and advocate for a wide range of political and social reforms that they proudly called "democratic." One of the figureheads of this new international movement was Tom Paine, the author of Common Sense. Although Paine spent the 1790s in Europe, his increasingly radical political writings from that decade were wildly popular in America. A cohort of democratic printers, newspaper editors, and booksellers stoked the fires of American politics by importing a flood of information and ideas from revolutionary Europe. Inspired by what they were learning from their contemporaries around the world, the evolving democratic opposition in America pushed their fellow citizens to consider a wide range of radical ideas regarding racial equality, economic justice, cosmopolitan conceptions of citizenship, and the construction of more literally democratic polities. In Europe such ideas quickly fell victim to a counter-Revolutionary backlash that defined Painite democracy as dangerous Jacobinism, and the story was much the same in America’s late 1790s. The Democratic Party that won the national election of 1800 was, ironically, the beneficiary of this backlash; for they were able to position themselves as the advocates of a more moderate, safe vision of democracy that differentiated itself from the supposedly aristocratic Federalists to their right and the dangerously democratic Painite Jacobins to their left.

In this acclaimed historical study, Alexander Saxton establishes the centrality of white racism to American politics and culture. Examining images of race at a popular level - from blackface minstrelsy to the construction of the Western hero, from grassroots political culture to dime novels - as well as the philosophical constructions of the political elite, it is a powerful and comprehensive account of the ideological forces at work in the formation of modern America.

Bruce Ackerman shows how the institutional dynamics of the last half-century have transformed the American presidency into a potential platform for political extremism and lawlessness. Watergate, Iran-Contra, and the War on Terror are only symptoms of deeper pathologies. Ackerman points to a series of developments that have previously been treated independently of one another—from the rise of presidential primaries, to the role of pollsters and media gurus, to the centralization of power in White House czars, to the politicization of the military, to the manipulation of constitutional doctrine to justify presidential power-grabs. He shows how these different transformations can interact to generate profound constitutional crises in the twenty-first century—and then proposes a series of reforms that will minimize, if not eliminate, the risks going forward. The book aims to begin a new constitutional debate. Americans should not suppose that Barack Obama’s centrism and constitutionalism will typify the presidencies of the twenty-first century. We should seize the present opportunity to confront deeper institutional pathologies before it is too late.

Daniel McCool chronicles the surging grassroots movement to bring America's rivers back to life and ensure they remain pristine for future generations. This book confirms the surprising news that America's rivers are indeed returning to a healthier, free-flowing condition. Through passion and dedication, ordinary people are reclaiming the American landscape, forming a nation-wide "river republic" of concerned citizens from all backgrounds and sectors of society. McCool profiles the individuals he calls "instigators," who initiated the fight for these waterways and have succeeded in the near-impossible task of challenging and changing the status quo. He ties the history, culture, and fate of America to its rivers and presents their restoration as a microcosm mirroring American beliefs, livelihoods, and an increasing awareness of our shared environmental fate.

Throughout our country's existence there have been those who didn't approve of our form of government. Those with other ideologies have tried to influence our governance since the beginning of our nation. Only one has succeeded on a grand scale: Throughout the twentieth century, and continuing today, a long-term plan to replace our Capitalist society has been in place and is incrementally growing stronger. By infiltrating every aspect of American interaction, as documented in the book, our enemy continues to garner more and more support of the people. You won't want to believe what you read. Many in Washington are happy about that, and most, not all public figures are reluctant to call it what it is. You need this info to decide for yourself. By promoting discontent where there was none, they have divided our nation by socioeconomics, race, ethnicity, religion, and politics. There are exaggerated issues of racism, the rich and the poor, business vs. the working class, climate change, entitlements vs. hard work, Socialism vs. Capitalism, and Conservatism vs. Liberalism. All these deceitful distractions are productive tools of our enemy that divert our attention from the master plan to fully install a new form of government that gives full control of our lives to the government. Most Americans, as well as most politicians, are too distracted by the minutiae mentioned above to see the big picture that this book details. There are no longer enough people who understand or are willing to defend the Constitution that enabled US to become the greatest nation in history while it was strictly interpreted. I fear it is too late to reverse the process now. URGENT UPDATE- email [email protected] for a free Bonus Chapter.