INTRODUCTION

 

TRAILBLAZER TO REVIVAL OF THE AMERICAN DREAM

 

Many commented about the supreme paradox of the Sutton Viewpoint Center's corporate jet plane christened the Liberty Bell IV taking off from Philadelphia on U.S. Constitution Day for London to attend the State Funeral for a British Monarch.

When we arrived in England we were impressed with the throngs of well-wishers who stood in line for hours to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II. I remembered her talking about the newsreels she saw in 1945 when U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt died and his coffin was taken from Warm Springs, Georgia to Washington, D.C. No less for her from Balmoral Castle to London 77 years later.

The Queen and FDR served the longest tenures as British Monarch and U.S. President, respectively, and left immense shoes to fill for King Charles III and Harry S. Truman. President Truman rose to become one of the great presidents in his own right; the world has to hope and pray the same will be the case for the new king.

The fact of the matter is that everything that is civilized, enlightened and cultured that has mattered in human history the past millennium has come from Great Britain and its lost colonies. It is imperative that the United Kingdom and the United States regain their positions as leaders and models to the rest of the world.

The author does not know when it happened precisely,

but Americans have lost sight of the fact that

we are indeed the ones in control in this country! Not

the politicians, lobbyists, the news media or power

brokers, but us! That’s how Democracy has, does

and always will work.

If problems are to be resolved, the Citizens must

do more than occasionally register our angst and

vehemence at the ballot box. We must stop the

blame game and take a good long look at ourselves

and our World in the “mirror”. Many in psychology

and “self-help” arena tell us that we as individuals

will see our lives turn out as we see it turning out.

This is no less true for our nation and our world.

Collectively, America has flunked the “mirror test.”

To pass this test we must collectively believe we can

and will improve our national and the world’s state

of affairs. Just how we can proceed in this endeavor

is the focus of this “How To” book for America.

The American dream has different meaning to

each and every one of us. This is how it should be.

However, when one thoroughly reviews and investigates

the history of the United States, there are four

underpinning Universal Themes or Principles of the

American Dream that are responsible for America’s

greatness. The author has discussed and detailed

each one these principles in Chapter One.

It is then logical to continue this conversation,

and expanding upon it, by inquiring: what happened?

Americans no longer trust their government.

The vast majority of Americans believe that it is no

longer possible for them to pass on a better future

to their children, a hallmark of the American dream.

 

Donald Trump campaigned saying Americans

need to make “America great again.” Those who are

76 and older as he is may know what he is referring

to. Those who are the author’s age – 63 and

younger–have no idea what the 45th U.S. President is

discussing. We have never known America as great.

During our childhoods, we only knew national distress

and America falling apart at the seams: the two

Kennedy and King assassinations; Vietnam; the Arab

oil embargoes; Watergate; stagflation; the Iranian

hostage crisis; the worst economic conditions since

the Great Depression and the covid-19 pandemic.

The historic foundation of America’s greatness

and what has happened to it will be reviewed in

Chapter Two.

During the author’s undergraduate years in college,

the author took a course in General Semantics that

changed my viewpoint of the world forever. Perception

and interpretation of the events around us is the

most compelling factor in how we behave and conduct

ourselves. What we believe is not always true

and what is true, we do not always believe.

General Semantics forces us to examine and

wrestle with our beliefs that we ourselves accept as

fundamentally true, but in fact are not. Most of us

would say that if we lived 160 years ago at the time

of the American Civil War we would have supported

and/or fought on the union side, right? After all, the

union won and ended slavery, right?

Humans, when confronted with a decision of this

magnitude, rarely see such a cut and dry choice in

front of them. The author would be one of those that

would say I would have chosen to fight on the union

side. As an 11-year old boy, the author made such

a statement, in fact.

Fresh off a tour of Gettysburg, Antietam,

Manassas and Harper’s Fairy while visiting relatives

in West Virginia, the author made such a boast to my

father after we returned to Montana. Dad just laughed and

was quick to remind me of our southern ancestry

which includes his namesakes John Marshall and

Robert E. Lee.

Dad went on to inform me that the author’s sister,

brother and I had ancestors at the Battle of Hastings

on the side of William, the Conqueror; were some

of the nobles that virtually forced King John to sign

the Magna Charta 807 years ago; and that we were

descendants of Henry VII, who expanded the powers

of the Parliament after the War of the Roses; and

were Stuart Pretenders, which families included that

of George Washington.

Some traditional British historians may find

it positively galling that none other than George

Washington is more closely related to William, the

first British Monarch, than is King Charles III.

As a result of our mother’s Norman ancestry, the

author was named after Prince Philip and my brother

was named Stuart, after the House of Stuart, the last

ruling House in London which our family is directly

related and was loyal to.

My father was not finished. Through his mothers’

ancestry we are related to Thomas Jefferson, James

Madison, James Monroe; John, Peyton and Edmund

Randolph; Richard H. Lee and Henry (Light Horse

Harry) Lee III; and John Marshall. He took a little

pride in calling his mother an “unreconstructed rebel.”

There is a story told in the Lee Family told to me

by my father which you will not find in the history

books but illuminates why Bobby Lee fought on the

Confederate side. Shortly after a Confederate cabinet

meeting, the General and Confederate President

Jefferson Davis had a conversation. In it, Lee told

Davis he believed slavery to be morally wrong and

secession to be unconstitutional.

Probably somewhat horrified, Davis asked Lee

why he was there. Lee told him: “Five generations

of my family have been born and raised in Virginia.

I could no sooner raise my sword against Virginia

than my own family.”

That is why Robert E and Mary Custis Lee,

step-Granddaughter of George Washington, abandoned

the Lee Family home, Stratford Hall, and

fought on the Confederate side during the American

Civil War.

My father had made his point. He led me to

realize that the decision concerning which side to

fight on during our nation’s civil war was not as easy

and clear-cut as I had imagined. This is the point.

So often we have core beliefs that unduly influence

our values, viewpoints and decisions, many times

without even realizing it!

Our current viewpoints of America, its relationships

to other nations and our internal affairs are set

by our belief systems and, that in reality, may be

faulty and need to be appropriately changed!

Please understand the author is not trying to

foment a national introspective here or persuade

the readers to toss your current belief structure

and adopt a new one, although for some that might

not be a bad idea at all. The author is merely suggesting

that everyone be willing to open their minds

upon different perspectives and how we perceive our

world and our future. This is the primary topic of the

third chapter.

Finally, after defining the four “Universal Themes

of The American Dream”, what has happened to

undermine them and how we relate these principles

to and interpret our current situation, it is only fitting

then we devise Recommendations to follow to revive,

then reclaim and finally redeem the American Dream.

Each of the last four chapters addresses each of the

four Universal Thematic Principles in turn.

Robert Frost defined the American spirit well

when he wrote:

“... I came upon a fork in the road and I

took the road less traveled by and that has

made all the difference.”1

America not only has taken the road less traveled

but has blazed that road itself many a time in its history

and it has made all the difference.

Regardless of what the reader believes concerning

the future of America and no matter what you think

of the Recommendations that you will soon discover

in this book, it is sincerely hoped the discussion will

be enlightening for the betterment of all America and

informative to the reader concerning America’s past,

present and future.

As the world is currently discovering, the United

States of America – once the example to the rest

of the World in so many ways – can no longer be

trusted and viewed with such distinction. Americans

must endeavor to greatly change that.

The author first met Nelson Mandela at a White House

Reception in June 1990. I had spearheaded efforts to

persuade the Reagan Administration to support to

the International Boycott against Apartheid in South

Africa.

Nelson made a B-line in my direction to show his

appreciation for our activism and I was pleasantly

surprised to say the least. He immediately began to

discuss what else had to be done and asked for my

support, which I readily pledged.

 

When Nelson passed away in December 2013, I attended his

State Funeral in Qunu. It was there my thoughts of Nelson and

all he taught me led me to create the Sutton Viewpoint Center's

International Trailblazer Program.

 

The SVC Trailblazer Program has become the chief Education &

Training Program in the world for Economic & Public Policy

Development. Many of the key proposals which are taught

worldwide and can make Revival of the American Dream inevitable

can be discovered in this opus. We must be certain no one is left behind.

 

-Phil Sutton, DBA

Hastings, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom

October 14, 2022

 

1 Frost, Robert, “The Road Not Taken”, 1916, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org