Preface
This book came out of my two year run for the U.S. Senate seat for the state of Iowa. Instead of losing all that I discovered in that process by just closing that chapter of my life, I have instead decided to morph all of the information and experiences into this book.
This book really starts 35 years ago in the rice paddies and mountains of Vietnam where, while taking part in life's most serious endeavor as a combat Marine, I was forced to reconsider all that I had been brought up to believe. Whether it was mythology, morals, ethics, mores, who we are as a species, as a culture, as a society, or as a member of our community, nothing was left unchallenged by engaging in a life and death struggle with other human beings on a daily basis.
Politics, whether we like it or not, is the realm in which we as a nation make our collective choices as to who we will be and what our relation to others will be like.
There are three things we as humans must do to survive, both on an individual and a national level. We must eat; therefore we must have a national agricultural model. We must stay warm; ergo an energy policy. And, we must get along with others; bringing about a need for a national foreign policy.
The programs and policies laid out in this book are my attempt
to inform you of ways and means to think about these necessities from perspectives
that you might not be familiar with. I hope that what is presented in this
book will be of value to you in opening up new avenues of thought for you
to pursue in your participation in creating and continuing our democracy.