Please note: this is a work in progress.
What does the United States and Rome have in common?
When Julius Cesar led an 8 year campaign to conquer Gaul, modern day France, 50% of Gaul's population was killed. Another 25% of the population was forced into slavery for the Roman Empire. The remaining 25% served some use where they were and allowed to stay, but they were taxed.
My point of mention this piece of history is this, Rome was an incredibly brutal civilization. Rome was a country that relied entirely on military might, and Julius Cesar thought he acting according to god's will. Notice a similarity?
The United States spends more on "defense" than all other countries combined. Every action taken by our military is offensive, and over the last few decades, the U.S. military has been responsible for millions of deaths. You may also remember when George Bush made his statements about praying to god for answers before beginning the Iraq War.
The logic used to justify the War in Iraq is the same logic used to justify the War in Vietnam, which was, if we don't stop it there, it will come here. Obviously, the logic used back in the 70's was flawed because Communism didn't spread. Communism died because it's a viciously corrupt system, which doesn't grant individual people basic human dignity.
Basically, Democracy won out over Communism because culturally, Democracy recognizes the importance of individuals. However, the Democracy used by the United States is deeply flawed because we keep ending up in wars, which arguably do more harm than good.
In the end, Vietnam became a wound, which took over a generation to heal. Iraq is well on it's way to being the exact same thing.
After Vietnam, America didn't do anything to repair itself culturally to prevent the tragedy of another Vietnam. Special Interests of the Military Industrial Complex still had way too much influence in Washington. Politicians were still allowed to throw the American people further into debt. Presidents, who are only going to be around for a maximum of 8 years, can just absolve themselves of any responsibility by "passing the buck" thereby letting someone else clean up their messes. And finally, our income tax system, which forces people to contribute a portion of their income, adds to a perfect recipe for disaster that is destined to keep repeating itself over and over again in the form of pointless war after a pointless.
Can the United States survive living this way? The obvious answer is NO.
Just as Rome couldn't continue to slaughter and enslave, the United States can't continue to stop "the spread of things" whether it's communism or terrorism.
The point of The New Bill of Rights was to take a broad look at the different flawed aspects of American culture and the consequences thereof, while at the same time presenting the obvious solution, which would, in effect, prevent mistakes from being repeated.
I said in the second paragraph of this book, I was only going to write a script, which entailed the main character running for president. I didn't want this character to seem like he was "full of it." So, I started writing this book to give this character some substance. I ended up writing all about my own personal heartfelt political beliefs as naive as they may be, and I packaged them neatly into 10 new amendments to the Constitution, which is probably the exact same thing James Madison did.
When I began writing this book, it became abundantly clear, at least to me, I was writing about something, which is very important. I kept spending more time on it in an effort to totally make sure I knew what I was talking about--at least, that's what all my research has led me to believe.
When I turned 18, I became interested in politics; it was right around the time George Bush Sr. and Michael Dukakis were running for president. You might remember the scene where Michael Dukakis was riding around in a tank wearing that dorky helmet. I thought to myself, "This dude is acting just like the weasels I'm going to high school with, who are driving around in the Camero daddy bought for them, except this dude wants to be the leader of the Free World! Wow!"
Needless to say, I chose not to vote in the 88' election, nor have I voted since. It's not that I'm not patriotic--I honorably served in the Navy. I haven't voted because I have not seen any changes in America's political culture that would indicate, to me, voting is a good idea. To me, it always seems like a choice between "the lesser of 2 evils", which shouldn't be one's impetus for voting. I wouldn't say I'm cynical, but I do know when someone is "full of it" or not, and I recognize that politicians spend very little time dealing with the incredibly important issues in a way that is compassionate for all sides.
The New Bill of Rights might offend some people. Most likely, these people are the people who are making more than 10 million dollars a year and politicians who take lavish vacations on the special interest's dime. Everyone else will just notice things seem a little less dreary, they have more money, and they can travel more freely.
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