When it occurs, the erosion of that unique civilization we call the United States will occur with effortless ease. It will occur because those rare elements that collectively brought about its success are far too easily misunderstood. The use of words like democracy, republic, and rights provide too simple a set of landmarks for a social contract that needs so much of our attention in order to survive.Against us has gathered every power-hungry person and every power-hungry culture ...

Black Sheep-why did I label myself; and why, at an early age, did I choose a label that was so self-deprecating? Because I knew that the only way to rekindle life in a nation driven to quiet despair was to get myself dirty. I used socialism's worst qualities against it. I preyed on the power-hungry, and I played the bureaucratic game against itself. A few people died in the process, and I had to accept the responsibility for their deaths, even if they would not have done the same for mine....

Boredom, drudgery, with an occasional excitement brought about by food shortages or blackouts; the illnesses of a dying society devoid of imagination, inventiveness, even competence. At the apex of its soulless construct sit the powerful, cunningly wrestling for position, seeking control over a people who no longer care who controls their lives. And there is no Atlantis, waiting in the wings to provide guidance for those who have been slowly robbed of their will to create, to invent, to pr...