In light of the current political and economic atmosphere in the United States, this book has attempted to explore the road that the country has traveled to get to where it is today. Just as in the 9-11 attack, the election and reelection of Barack Obama may have taken some people by surprise but the framework for such events usually started long before they actually occur. Remember that 9-11 was preceded by years of terrorist attacks against Americans and American interests in various places in the world, the most notorious being the bombing of US Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, and the bombing of American Embassies in East Africa. Some five years later, the Embassy bombing was followed by the first attempt to destroy the World Trade Center. It was unsuccessful, but six years later, they succeeded, and it cost almost 3,000 lives of ordinary everyday men and women. This book discusses the reasons why the United States seems to be vulnerable to these attacks. It seeks to link the attitude of people in affluent societies to what history has taught us about past civilizations. It also compares the similarities between the terrorist attacks and the unresolved immigration issues. It looks into cultural changes brought about by unorganized flow of immigrants into the country and weighed in on the issue of whether unorganized immigration produces positive or negative effect on the country. A philosophical approach is brought into play in discussing why immigrants leave their country of birth and what role cultural behaviors play in those countries that force the people to emigrate. A historical review of the countries of the Americas was brought into play in an attempt to show that the United States is not at fault for why its neighbors are unable to rise to the same level of development as it has been able to achieve. There are several sections that discussed the issues of minority classification, the attempt to relegate God to obscurity, perhaps, in an attempt to liberate some people from any consideration of morality demanded by society. Other topics include potential political, economic, and social problems that this country may face in the future by the rising national debt at the same time that millions of people are being deliberately pulled into the welfare wagon. It was clear that the unprecedented strategy of offering free benefits to millions of people in order to win an election more than anything places the United States democratic system in clear jeopardy from which it may never come out clean. The book considers the corrupt behavior as part of the strategy to fundamentally transform the United States not into a more caring society but into a mediocre country economically, militarily, socially, and by implication, politically.
About the Author: The author is a retired engineer and naturalized citizen of the United States who was born and raised in Nigeria. He has lived in this country for over 39 years, and brings the perspective of someone who is outside and looking in to the discussion of the current issues facing this country. It is from this perspective that he has watched in complete awe the cultural changes that have been transforming this society. He also believes that life ought to be approached from philosophical perspective, if we are to be able to resolve society's problems and issues rationally. For that reason, the author does not take things at their face value; instead, he believes that we should stop long enough to think about why things are the way they are, and who's responsible for them. If we do, perhaps, we may see that it is nature that set everything up the way they are. That understanding will give us a better appreciation for the differences among people, even within the same society. Unless we accept the situation that nature has put in place and work diligently to overcome it, we are likely to continue to blame and tear each other apart. Once we accept that nature was responsible for whatever we are, we may become careful about blaming others for our failures and misfortunes or take our life's frustrations out on others. Although the author has no illusion that this giant rolling stone is going to be stopped before it hits the bottom, he believes, nonetheless, that he should add his voice to those already out there, in the wilderness.