The essence of "Leap" is that the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they designed the Constitution, and their work should have been left alone and their warnings heeded. Their wisdom and foresight is timeless and prescient — they foresaw with remarkable clarity many of the trappings that have ensnared the country.

The founders warned against incurring a national debt. If individuals must pay off their debts, then so does the government, but of course that has hardly been the case. The national debt is more than $11 trillion. The founders considered it immoral to pass on debt to the next generation. Thomas Jefferson said he placed economy first among virtues and "public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared."

The founders guaranteed equal rights and the freedom to prosper, but not equal things or equal wealth. The government was not authorized to redistribute wealth. From Samuel Adams: "The utopian schemes of leveling (redistribution of the wealth) and a community of goods (central ownership) are … arbitrary, despotic and, in our government, unconstitutional." James Madison said it was a violation of personal liberty to seize property from "one class of citizens for the service of the rest." The Supreme Court ruled the same way two centuries ago — "No man would become a member of a community in which he could not enjoy the fruits of his honest labor and industry. … The legislature, therefore, had no authority to make an act divesting one citizen of his freehold and vesting it in another. … It is contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution."

They opposed big federal government, heavy taxation and a welfare state, which they reckoned destroyed incentive, independence and productiveness.

They believed in the inalienable right to own property — not essentially loaning it to citizens from year to year contingent on payment of property taxes.

They believed America's future was greatly dependent on the teaching of religion because religious teaching led to a moral people which led to the election of good moral leaders. George Washington said in his farewell address, "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports … virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. Nearly three decades after its first publication, "The 5,000-Year Leap" is more worthwhile reading than ever. It goes directly to the source for the answers to the serious problems America faces these days.

Doug Robinson's column runs on Tuesdays. Please send e-mail to drob@desnews.com