M any years ago, I began to see how the term conservative was being used as a catch-all to mean a wide range of ideas and behaviors. I always considered myself a fairly conservative guy, but it was confusing. My views should never have put me in the same category as a reckless thug, a racist, or someone who wants to control women. Nope—not me. Balancing the budget and saving the environment (both rather conservative ideas) have nothing to do with retribution or angry behavior. So that was one thing.
I also came to realize there was a connection between my protest against the Vietnam War and our nation’s current struggles. I began to see how music, literature, and my own under-standing of history combined with what I had experienced on the trip to shape my understanding of the social and political issues we now face. My writing shifted as the arc of my life came into context with the history I helped create.
I have been witness to a struggle that began at the dawn of mankind—between self-centered behavior, magical thinking, empathy, and logic. These monographs are a compilation of contemporaneous notes, fifty-odd years of business experience, and long-term observation—the seeds of which germinated during that 9,847-mile journey I took all the way back in 1970.
I assembled the pieces of this puzzle in a way that tells the story as I see it. Your mileage may vary.