Is "The 5,000 Year Leap" any good?

"The 5000 Year Leap"- Principles of Freedom 101
W. Cleon Skousen
310 pages

I am awakening to U.S. politics way later than I should be, even though I voted in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 elections. In every election, I voted against the big government Democratic candidate, naively believing that the Republican choices were any different. I heard about the 5,000 year leap from the Glenn Beck Show, which is someone that I used to watch fairly regularly. Glenn said it's a must-read, so I ordered it. My knowledge of the constitution is shaky at best. I know more of it than most Americans, but that's not saying much. So to me, The 5,000 Year Leap was a pretty good read.

From the beginning, there is a good section describing anarchy-tyranny politics as opposed to the left-right divide we are in. Before the 5000 Y.L., I had only heard of the terms Ruler's law, People's law, or Natural law. It discusses where these terms came from and how our founding fathers implemented them into the Constitution, among many other ideas.

The rest of the book (the brunt of it) is divided into 28 founding principles. Each principle is covered in usually 5-15 pages, sprinkled with quotes from the founding fathers.

1. The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural law.
2. A free people cannot survive under a Republican Constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong. This chapter was interesting to me. After reading it, I realize that any form of government we create will always turn into tyranny if we become immoral and corrupt.
3. The most promising method of securing a virtuous and morally stable people is to elect virtuous leaders. From the book "...public officials should NOT be chosen if they are lacking in experience, training, proven virtue, and demonstrated wisdom."
   
4. Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained. I disagree with this one, as I believe morality can be upheld without religion.
   
5. All things were created by God, therefore upon Him all mankind are equally dependent, and to Him they are equally responsible.
6. All men are created equal.
7. The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.
8. Men are endured by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
9. To protect man's rights, God has revealed certain principles of Divine law.
10. The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.
11. The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.
12. The United States of America shall be a Republic.
13. A Constitution should be structured to permanently protect the people from the human frailties of their rulers.
14. Life and liberty are secure only so long as the right to property is secure.
15. The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations. Also briefly discusses fractional banking, the Federal Reserve, and our economy of debt.
16. The government should be separated into 3 branches- legislative, executive, and judicial.
17. A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power.
18. The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written constitution.
19. Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained in the people.
20. Efficiency and dispatch require government to operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.
21. Strong local self-government is the Keystone to preserving human freedom.
    
22. A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.
23. A free society cannot survive as a Republic without a broad program of general education.
24. A free people will not survive unless they stay strong. Some of the founders' views on national defense.
    
25. Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations- entangling alliances with none. This is probably the most important lesson I took from the book.
    
26. The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore, the government should foster and protect its integrity.
27. The burden of debt is as destructive to freedom as subjugation by conquest.
28. The United States has a manifest destiny to be an example and a blessing to an entire human race.

I don't pretend to be an expert in any of these principles, but this book is probably a great overview of what our founding fathers envisioned for this country. It is amazing to me how much we have turned away from our founding principles and trampled on the Constitution. As far as down-sides to this book. While I have no reason to distrust the author, some of the quotes used seems random or incomplete, so a double-check of the cited sources is probably a good idea (I guess that's true with any book though). There is also a decent dose of religion, so non-believers keep this in mind. Also, since these principles are so numerous, this is more of an idea overview book as opposed to a detailed study (not necessarily a downside, just worth mentioning). So, is the 5,000 year leap any good? Yes, it's a good book, especially as an introduction to the U.S. Constitution.

If you liked this review, you might also like my review of the "The Revolution", Is Ron Paul's "The Revolution" any good?