American Spirits

Ed Feulner and Brian Tracy’s book, The American Spirit, is a fundamental explanation of why America is one of the most unique nations in the world. It is a must-read for anyone wanting to find out what makes America and its citizens tick. Also, this book can be used as a way to diagnose the remedies for America’s current problems. It is replete with anecdotes that prove the existence of America’s core values. There are twenty listed chapters with corresponding values, ranging from patriotism and freedom to courage, with each chapter full of stories and reasons about what makes America unique.

Several of the resounding themes from the book relate to how America must rediscover these traditionally American values to avoid becoming another Europe. If this unsustainable spending, caused by Obamacare and unprecedented entitlement spending on Social Security and Medicare, continues without fiscal responsibility and financial foresight, the America that many have grown to love will become another Greece.

Another theme in the book deals with how America has to mature and in several senses, grow up, because it has shirked the responsibility and individuality that has led to previous American innovations. Feulner notes that socialist countries like North Korea and Russia are not the inventors of the world, but the U.S. is. With more government regulations and restrictions, the commonplace American innovation will inevitably disappear and the American economy will stagnate. The unrealistic tax burden that Americans shoulder contributes to this potential problem if steps are not taken to free America from regulations. Also, the separation of church and state is examined under the microscope along with how the exclusion of  religion in America has led to a significant and worrisome moral decay. Though he gives feel-good stories of Good Samaritans and typical American acts of kindness, the book reveals the multiple aspects of the problems with the current state of American society. The great part of this book is that it makes the reader think, what can be done to solve our problems?

Feulner does not solely build up and outline the values that make America great, but provides solutions to these problems. He suggests that America has to take responsibility to enact spending caps and limit spending, all while alluding to the Tea Party movement that is taking America back to its core values. Throughout the book, he cites research and scholars from the Heritage Foundation and quotes great American heroes such as Ronald Reagan and Thomas Edison to prove his points. If Americans live these values that once made the country great, maybe then America will rebound from its current,  self-inflicted problems. Maybe then, the U.S. can lead from ahead and become as great as it was during the years of Ronald Reagan. But, as the authors note, that choice of greatness is up to all Americans. These reasons ensure that this book is a must-read for all Americans and those that love liberty and freedom.

Spencer Irvine is a research assistant at Accuracy in Academia.

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