The 5000-Year Leap: A Miracle That Changed the World – Book Review

For many years in the United States there has been a gradual drift away from the Founding Fathers' original success formula, most notably the Constitution of the United States. This book has been a good review, with the history and development of the making of America and the discovery of the 28 Principles of Freedom our Founding Fathers confided in the young country. They have stated that these must be understood and perpetuated by every person who desires peace, prosperity, and freedom. The thesis behind this book is that the beliefs during the past 200 years have brought about more progress than was made in the previous 5000 years.

In showing how our system was designed, the author, Dr. Skousen goes through 28 principles that the Founders developed from their study of sources such as Cicero, Locke, Alexis de Tocqueville, Adam Smith, among others. Skousen has done what most people don't have the time or inclination to do: Study the original source materials and bring it all together.

From the introduction until the last page, I was hooked. I have been telling everyone I know about this book considering the economic times we are in. Sometimes I wonder if those spam e-mails on politics or the economy go on deaf ears. Maybe this book is a great place to start in convincing my pals, but this book must not be where we stop. The book explores the fundamental principles that our nation was founded on, and how those principles led to more advancement for America. I thought it was wonderful, clear and concise. It clarifies what this great nation was founded on and reinforces that our Constitution is really worth protecting. It is not a “living” document. I believe this book is fundamental, should be taught in high school, and given to elected officials for reference material. The book lays out basic true principles believed in by the founding fathers on which we should base our decisions in government.

My favorite chapter was the 27th Principle: The Burden of Debt is as Destructive to Freedom as Subjugation by Conquest. This needs to be read by everyone in America today, including the President and Congress, with the rollout of the present administrations $3.6 trillion fiscal 2010 budget. I particularly appreciated the discussion of the 7th Principle also: The Proper Role of Government is to Protect Equal Rights, Not Provide Equal Things; and the 15th Principle: The Highest Level of Prosperity Occurs when there is a Free-Market Economy and a Minimum of Government Regulations. This is relevant as to the taking over of our automotive and banking industry, and don’t forget the plan to take over the healthcare and energy industries by the government as well. In our modern mindset of "Let Uncle Sam fix it and finance it" we seem to have forgotten that if Uncle Sam is to have such deep pockets, we must either line them ourselves or mortgage our future to other countries by borrowing. Do we really need to borrow $300 Billion per year from China? The book explains why borrowing beyond our means is bad.

Finally, the author discussed the changes from the time of the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the early 1980s when the book was originally written. The founder's success formula would solve nearly every problem we have in American today if followed. Another question is, should the Government take from the rich and give to the poor? This would seem like a pretty good program if you were the one getting the money. I want to send this book to every elected official, every citizen for that matter, in the country. This book discusses what it takes for a people to stay free, tyranny versus anarchy. We have strayed so far from where the Founding Fathers started, that I didn’t recognize the framework the Founders laid for us until now.

Enjoy!