This book represents my truth. I express my truth with conviction because I know why I believe what I believe. I have spent a lifetime trying to understand how the world works and where we humans fit within it. I want to share what I have learned over the years with as many people as I can. However, if your truth is different from mine, that’s okay with me. I respect the truth of others, even if it’s not my truth, as long as the others know why they believe what they believe. In my opinion, just because some so-called expert has said or written something is not a sufficient reason to believe anything. What we’ve learned from others becomes our truth only when we are willing to embrace it and defend it as our own. That said, none of us should be so arrogant as to proclaim that our truth is the truth. We are all just searching for the truth. In the search for truth, let’s start with the foreword to the book – A Revolution of the Middle . . . and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Foreword

 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” So begins the American Declaration of Independence of 1776.

The fabric of America that was sewn together by these words has been ripped apart by decades of political battles between the so-called Left and Right. There is no longer a consensus among the governed regarding even the basic purpose of their government. Many believe it’s idealistic to think the lost consent of the governed can ever be restored. Idealistic perhaps, but it’s not impossible. The alternative is to mourn the death of the American dream of a lasting, sustainable democracy. Even in the possibility, there is hope.

A political consensus does not require compromise or accommodation on matters of principle. It does require the discovery of a set of common core values by which we can agree to be governed. We need not agree on everything, nor should we agree on everything. We need only agree on those principles essential to our common purpose for choosing to live together under one government. Without such a consensus, a nation is inevitably divided. A nation so divided cannot stand; it is not sustainable.

Once such a consensus is reached, political compromises concerning laws and rules can be made without violating essential core values or principles. Within such a society people are free to express their individual values and to pursue their individual purposes. They need only refrain from violating the consensus by which they have agreed to be governed. There can be no greater individual freedom than this within any civilized society.

The early chapters of this book were drafted during the time of the financial collapse and the presidential campaign of 2008 and the early aftermath. It seemed a time of great peril but also a time of great opportunity. With the election of Barack Obama, I had hoped people might set aside their political differences, at least for a time, as they have often done before in times of crisis. He had proclaimed, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America but the United States of America.” In his inaugural address he had talked passionately about the necessity of Americans coming together to bring about the change we need to meet the challenges that confront us. Obviously, that didn’t happen.

Apparently, the election of President Obama was more divisive than unifying. The Republican leadership in Congress openly stated their determination to ensure that he was a one-term president. With newfound confidence, the Democratic majority was just as determined to enact a bold legislative agenda, with or without the support of Republicans. These legislative battles stretched thin the already fragile fabric of American society. The political campaigns of 2010 began before the Congress of 2009 had even convened. The Supreme Court’s rejection of limits on corporate financing of campaigns opened the floodgates of negative advertising, carefully designed to magnify differences and conceal commonalities.

The elections of 2010 seemed to validate the divisive political strategies of both parties. The Republicans regained much of the ground lost in the election of 2008. The Democrats took pride in a legislative agenda they had the courage to enact while they still had the votes to do it. Those who had deserted both Republicans and Democrats by 2010 moved even farther Right and Left rather than toward the Middle. Gridlock now seems the political strategy of choice for the foreseeable future. With little of the politically moderate Middle left in either party, neither party can afford to allow the other to govern successfully. The political and social fabric of America has been ripped apart.

The real winner of all recent elections has been corporate America. The large publicly traded corporations that now dominate the American economy and government are not real people, regardless of Supreme Court rulings. They have no friends, family, nor community, and, increasingly, no nationality. They have no capacity for social responsibility or ethical integrity. They are neither moral nor immoral, but amoral. They are legal entities designed to facilitate the assembly of capital and accumulation of wealth for their stockholders. 

Such corporations invariably attempt to extract from nature and exploit society, because extracting and exploiting are more profitable than conserving and caring. The only means real people have of restraining corporate exploitation is by working together through government. As long as the government remains in political gridlock, we are powerless to restrain corporate interests. We have no means other than government of stopping the depletion and degradation of our natural resources, our society, or even our economy. For this reason, corporate America is committed to maintaining gridlock. The only hope for the future of America is that We the People will restore just power to our government, which means we must restore the consent of the governed.

I revised my original manuscript for this book somewhat following the 2010 elections. At that point, I knew that few people would believe the election of President Obama could possibly have signaled the start of a healing process in America. I was no longer sure that even I believed it. However, I have not changed my references to his inaugural address in framing my discussion of what I think must be done. Perhaps they are “just words,” but specific words can be powerful in conveying meaning. I use his words because they exhort us to return to the “ideals of our forebearers and our founding documents” – our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Some prominent voices on the political Right have also used similar words to promote their movement to “take back America.” My purpose is to promote the message, not the messenger.

These historic documents are not liberal documents or conservative documents. They are the documents that once defined what it meant to be a citizen of the United States of America. They must do so again if there is to again be a “United” States of America. I believe these documents require an active role for government in American society. For this belief, some on the Right will automatically label me as a social liberal, perhaps even a socialist or communist. However, many of my ethical and moral positions on public issues are much more conservative than liberal. I believe my social and ethical positions are far more consistent with the ideas of our forebearers and our founding documents than are the ideas of the political Left or Right. I believe my ideas represent the core values of the great American Middle.

I believe sustainability is an important question, not because it is a liberal buzzword, but because it asks us to live by the Golden Rule. It asks us to do for others as we would have them do for us, both within and across generations. The Golden Rule is not a value of the Left or the Right; it is an American value. It is also a core value of virtually every major religion and enduring philosophy in the world.

The middle chapters of the book deal with the essentials of ecological, social, and economic sustainability. While an active government is essential, only a limited government is sustainable. Our founding documents define the fundamental purpose of government as ensuring that all have equal opportunities to acquire those things to which all have equal rights. A government limited to its most essential functions would be a far smaller government than today’s government, but would have priorities very different from today’s government. It would be what the government of the United States of America was meant to be. Its powers would be limited to those defined by the consent of the governed.

The final chapters of this book are a call for a Revolution of the Middle, regardless of whether the core values of the Middle prove to be consistent with my own values. These latter chapters provide a conceptual framework and process for restoring integrity to our economy and society. However, the nature of the revolution, and whether or not it succeeds, will depend on the leadership, logistics, support, and perseverance of the great American Middle. Most important, it will require a return to the fundamental truths found in the ideas of our forebearers and our founding documents. Only through such a revolution can we end the wars of the Left and Right and restore our consent to be governed as one people – as the United States of America.

Introduction

May you live in interesting times! Some say this ancient Chinese proverb is actually a curse. The Chinese word used for “interesting times” is the same as the word for crisis, which is commonly interpreted to mean both danger and opportunity. Scholars tend to agree on the “danger” half of the word, but some suggest the second half of the word is most accurately interpreted as “a critical point in time.” A crisis, then, is a point in time when we are forced by perilous circumstances to make choices that will fundamentally change the future, for either better or worse. A crisis may be either a blessing or a curse. Regardless, we most certainly are living in “interesting times.”

Every few hundred years throughout human history, society has been confronted with both the necessity and the opportunity for fundamental change. One such time, the Industrial Revolution, happened to coincide with the birth of our American democracy. At some such historical junctures, societies have chosen wisely; at others they have not. Human progress has been a direct consequence of wise choices made in past times of crisis. The slowness and bumpiness of human progress has been a direct consequence of unwise choices made at other such times. Never before has the wisdom of choices been as critical to the future of humanity as today. Never before has the human race faced greater perils or greater possibilities.

At times such as these, great leaders often come forward, but their success or failure inevitably depends on the capacity of the people to embrace fundamental change. Too often, choices are a consequence of habit or custom rather than wisdom. Most people continue to do things that seemed to work in the past even though they are no longer working, thus creating new problems rather than solutions. Today’s crisis, like many before, is a consequence of applying yesterday’s solutions to today’s problems. Many people remain unwilling to accept the changes in thinking that must accompany our ever-evolving understanding of the reality in which we live. With the acceptance of necessity comes opportunity. Great leaders must be empowered by people who not only see the opportunities but are also ready and willing to follow wise leaders at such times.

The American voters who elected President Obama were voting for fundamental change. He has the potential to become a wise and great leader, but only if he is ultimately empowered by the people to lead them through this time of crisis. He gained popular acceptance as a pragmatist rather than an idealist, as someone willing to do whatever works. However, he chose to focus his inaugural address on great ideals rather than pragmatism.

He referred to times such as these as times of “gathering clouds and raging storms.” At such moments, he said, America has carried on, not simply because of great leaders, but because “We the People have remained faithful to the ideas of our forebearers, and truth of our founding documents.” He said, “The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation; the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”

Near the conclusion of his inaugural address, he said, “For as much as government can and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.” While campaigning in January 2008, he had said, “Change does not happen from the top down but from the bottom up … [People] arguing, mobilizing, agitating, and ultimately forcing elected officials to be accountable ... That’s how we are going to bring about change.” President Obama clearly understands that great leaders and great governments must be empowered by the people – by the consent of the governed.

Thus far in his administration, it is not clear whether he will be the pragmatist who simply gets things done or the idealist who brings about fundamental change. It is clear that nothing has changed yet in Congress; the political Right and Left both remain more concerned about gaining or keeping political power than governing the nation. Our government has lost the consent of the governed. If there is to be real change, it is up to us, the American people.

As President Obama concluded, “Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true … What is demanded then is a return to these truths.” These are not the values of the Left or the Right; these are the historical values of middle America – of the Middle. These are the common core values upon which we can rebuild the consent of the governed.

We are clearly in a time of crisis. The very survival of our nation is at risk. To bring about the change we need we must have a Revolution of the Middle. We must be willing to argue, mobilize, agitate, and ultimately force our elected officials to restore integrity to our government. We simply cannot continue to grudgingly accept a government that fails to fulfill its fundamental purpose for being.

We the People must demand that our government return to the “old truths” – to the time-tested ideals that all are equal, all are free, and all are deserving of an equal opportunity to pursue their full measure of happiness. If we have the courage to meet the challenges of today, we have the opportunity to create a new and fundamentally better world of tomorrow, not only for ourselves, but also for our posterity.