Our Founding Fathers were remarkable men – which, of course, was because of what they did for our country. More specifically, I learned to appreciate them for being able to put aside their own petty self interests for the greater good. An example of doing just that was their ability to put our fledging nation on the right track by coming together to write the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  Considering their diverse backgrounds, divergent interests and passionate concerns, it was quite remarkable they could compromise sufficiently to write those three sacred documents.

And, of course, none of that would have happened if our Founding Fathers and their fellow patriots were not willing to risk their lives by directly or indirectly  fighting in, or supporting the Revolutionary War, so that we could continue to enjoy the freedoms we have today. We must remember that at the onset of the war, there was a greater likelihood of losing the war than winning it.

I also realize I would never have attained a level of functioning that I enjoy today, where, I’m at peace emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually, with not only myself, but others, if I wasn’t an American. I owe our Founding Fathers a debt of gratitude because of what they and the other patriots gave us, which were the many joys and opportunities we’ve been given, just by the mere fact we all have been born in this great country,  America.

It is for that reason I chose to write my first book The Impotent Giant: How to Reclaim the Moral High Ground of America’s Politics and my second and current psychologically based book under discussion, entitled: What Would Our Founding Fathers Say?: How Today’s Leaders Have Lost Their Way. The main reason I wrote them  was because I’m deeply concerned where our country is headed. As I’ve said many times before, if our political parties don’t fix our broken system of government by compromising so legislation gets passed, dire circumstances will result. At best, we will continue to be an inferior caricature of what we once were. Even well before the end of this century we will be another fallen empire. Put another way, the dreams and promises of Americans for their country will become permanently unattainable.

There are psychological explanations why there’s a lack of cooperation between our two parties, thus preventing compromises being achieved and our democracy and republic thriving and serving “We the People,” as intended. It is for that reason I wrote those two above mentioned books, to provide the explanation why that is so. I  plan to touch on that subject in future blogs.

In my latest book What Would Our Founding Fathers Say?, I believe I have provided a bipartisan political formula necessary for all Americans, especially our children and grandchildren, to be able to live their lives with dignity, respect and a sense of purpose and pride of accomplishment – in a way not possible in the world of politics today.

It was during President George Washington’s two terms as president when our fledging nation was operating as our Founding Fathers had intended our government to run. There were no political parties when Washington was president. The advent of political parties caused the shift of concentration of power from the people to the political parties, which clearly caused great dissention among those who felt they no longer were included as being part of the political process. This realization didn’t occur all at once, but rather, developed very gradually over many years.

One thing I’ve discovered by studying our political system and the part political parties play in influencing political thought and outcome is that political parties have destroyed our politicians ability to compromise expeditiously and comprehensively to include all Americans in their deliberations.  During Washington’s presidency, his administration and the branches of his government were able to by-and -large put aside their selfish interests in their effort to work for the greater good, which was to accommodate the needs of all Americans; after Washington’s presidency, and political parties were formed, the political power gradually shifted from “the People,” to the parties’ political biases, depending upon the prejudices that each party represented.