America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great Read Online Free PDF

wanted us to contribute to the success of our family as a prelude to becoming successful in the world.
O WNERSHIP OF AN I DEA L EADS TO
G REATER C OOPERATION
    Throughout history, we humans have attempted to create rules that would lead to peace and prosperity, as well as fairness among the nations. Unfortunately, those goals have rarely been achieved, despite numerous and varied attempts throughout time and around the world. If we have learned over the centuries and have become so smart, why is it so difficult for us to make progress in these areas? If ownership of an idea makes cooperation with its tenets much more likely, why can’t the same principles work for a larger society?
    The fact of the matter is, there are many examples in early American history where self-governance did work — and extremely well at that. Many of the Quaker societies and the Amish and Mennonite communities functioned efficiently, peacefully, and fairly. Perhaps the past tense is not the best one to use, since many of the Amish and Mennonite communities are still thriving today. We see many patients from these communities at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and we are always thrilled to admit them because they are very friendly and extremely cooperative. They pay their bills and you never have to worry about them trying to sue you. If everyone were that way, medicine would be a much more pleasant profession and costs would be considerably lower. There are no homeless people in these communities and extremely little crime. Among them, there is a strong sense of caring for one’s neighbor, yet hard work on the individual level is still rewarded. Many people in these communities own businesses and have accumulated substantial wealth, which is beneficial to everyone else in the community since many jobs are created as businesses expand in a free environment.
    Many nations, such as ancient Israel and the medieval English, made admirable attempts at establishing fair and peaceful societies. Their principal idea was to allow the people to govern themselves as much as possible.Ancient Israeli government, for example, was set up as a commonwealth of freemen. “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof,” reads Leviticus 25:10, in celebration of the Year of Jubilee. Their basic belief was that all men should be free, and the founding fathers of our nation echoed that belief by having this same verse inscribed on the Liberty Bell. The people of ancient Israel were organized into small groups of families, and each of those families had a voice and vote in that group through a representative. Representatives of those groups reported to a higher-level group, and this continued until you reached the topmost governing level. Strong, local government to solve problems on the level at which they occurred kept the number of cases that rose to the highest level to a manageable number. (“The hard causes they brought unto Moses,” reads Exodus 18:26, “but every small matter they judged themselves.”) They focused on reparation to the victim rather than punishment or fines levied on the perpetrator, and common consent of the people was necessary for new laws and elections (or rejections) of leaders. 1 The accused were presumed innocent until evidence revealed beyond a shadow of a doubt their guilt. In rare, borderline cases, the decision was made in favor of the accused with the mind-set that if he had actually committed the crime, that punishment could be left to God in the afterlife.

    In Anglo-Saxon Common Law, as in the Israeli setup, the people were a commonwealth of freemen. Every adult had a voice and vote, and the groups of families were organized in units of ten, each with an elected leader. Like the Israelis, those leaders had representatives from their groups that met on a higher level, and attempts were always made to solve problems on the level where the problem originated. It was systems such as these that inspired our