Preserving American Values

Our nation stands under attack … not from without but from within. American values, our politics, and our culture have been corrupted.

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about

Websites: www.westillholdthesetruths.weebly.com; www.preservingamericanvalues.com; www.thepracticalbuddhist.com. A graduate of Brown U. and U. of Chicago Law School, I’ve had a varied career as a legal aid lawyer, survey researcher, nonprofit executive, management consultant, composer, teacher, and author. I have authored 7 books on topics as varied as Buddhism, child rearing, and politics, the latter of which received a pre-publication endorsement from James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic. My Buddhist blog was selected as one of the top 50 Buddhist blogs on the web.

Category: American Culture

  • The Self-Help Scam

    The self-help industry is huge.  Although numbers are hard to come by, in 2008 Nielsen Bookscan reported that 13.5 million self-help books were sold in the U.S.  The self-help industry is said to be worth around $11 billion annually, including seminars, DVDs, etc. Obviously, lots of people are crying out for help.  They feel miserable or frustrated…

  • The Ultimate Failure of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life

    Rick Warren wrote an amazingly successful spiritual book, The Purpose Driven Life.  According to amazon.com, it has sold more hardback copies than any other non-fiction book in history and it is the most-translated book in the world, except for the Bible.  Recently a new edition was published.   If so many tens of millions of people have read his…

  • Income Inequality Per Se Is Not the Problem

    In an ideal world, at least in my mind, you would not have the extremes of rich and poor.  But people have different intelligence levels, different talents, and different aptitudes which, even with all other things being equal, would translate themselves in the real world to significant disparities in earning opportunities.  Add to that that all other…

  • The Fallacy of the War on Drugs – Getting to the Root of the Problem

    There is no question but that the drug abuse epidemic that has swept across our nation is a catastrophe. It is a catastrophe for those who are addicted and are subject to its cravings. It is a catastrophe for their loved ones, who suffer in innumerable ways. It is a catastrophe for our economy because…

  • What Are We Celebrating on July 4th?

    July 4th … Independence Day … is fraught with symbolism.  It is the beginning of American exceptionalism, the beginning of America taking its place on the world’s stage, the beginning of freedom and prosperity for Americans.  It is a moment for us to pause, and so many years I write a post about July 4th. There is…

  • A Meaningful Right to Die

    There is a worldwide movement, with organizations in most developed countries, to foster the right of individuals to choose to die with dignity.  This is necessary because, unfortunately, most people today do not die with dignity because the medical profession will not allow it; they are focused on keeping people alive regardless the cost, spiritually…

  • Peak Oil or No, the Answer is Back to the Future

    I have been a firm believer in the peak oil theory. A recent article in the Atlantic, however, “What If We Never Run Out of Oil?” provided updated facts and changed my perspective. If one believes in peak oil, then one believes in an oncoming economic disaster since the world’s economy is based on oil.…

  • A Grace to Change the World

    Saying grace before or after meals is something that is routinely done by millions if not billions of people all over the world.  Regardless of the religion, saying grace is part of one’s religious practice. What is grace?  From every grace that I had ever heard, whether it was in movies, in people’s homes, or in…

  • Our Political System Has Failed Us

    The health of our democracy depends on three components, among others.  The first is an informed electorate which has the responsibility of electing those who will both represent  it and help lead the country.  The second is leaders who both represent their constituencies and act for the greater good of the country.  The third is an electorate and leaders…

  • American Exceptionalism – A Myth Exposed

    American political leaders and average Americans too take great pride in trumpeting the United States as the greatest country in the world. We are the strongest, the richest; we have the best medical system; we have the best educational system; and the list goes on and on. But are we the greatest country? While it…