ABSTRACT
The established roots of human meaning and the cornerstones of democracy - freedom, honesty, caring relationships, a belief in the next generation derive their power from the mutual respect of individuals. It is through the empathic intimacy of human relationships, not in the accumulation of material goods, that true prosperity is secured. The idea of America, with all that it contained within it about the moral law, nature, God and the human soul, once reflected the timeless, ancient wisdom that had guided human life since the dawn of human history. The full reality of the American Indian spiritual tradition was surely invisible to many of the US' greatest forebears, just as was the human essence of the black slaves. Behind all the political and economic machinations of the Founders of the country, there existed in their hearts and minds a passion to create an American place in the midst of the world, where the Good can be sought and lived.
