When was the last time you had one of those "Yeah - I never thought about it that way" moments? The title of Skousen's benchmark book begs that question, and provides a reasonable, if sometimes contrived answer.
The premise of The 5000 Year Leap is simple and evident, yet often overlooked: in the late 1700's, society was still doing basic tasks the same way they'd been doing them for 5,000 years. Want to plow a field? Hook up an ox, and walk behind the plow. Need to go to the next town? Walk or ride a horse. Looking for basic rights from your government? Good luck! Two hundred years later, men are walking on the moon (as well as many equally-dizzying advancements) and the people are in power in the United States. So - what happened? Skousen's explanation is that the American founding fathers adopted or adapted "The 28 Great Ideas that Changed to World" and the implementation of those ideas led to the civic and technological advancements current to our time.
Skousen takes little time discussing the obvious advancements, and doesn't argue the validity of these advancements (is the world really better?) Instead, he dives right in to a quick but tremendously effective lesson in historical civics - how to bring power to the people. Then, in a series of 5-10 page chapters, he lists and explains the 28 Great Ideas presented by the founders.
Each section is supported with quotes from the writings of the founding fathers, as well European philosophers Locke and Montesquieu. Admirably, the author uses the quotes to investigate the concepts, not to simply support his own ideas. Skousen draws the reader into a deeper understanding of the founder's philosophy, not his own. This is a refreshing approach, considering many modern political books are written strictly to further an author's opinion.
At the heart of the 28 ideas is the importance of people who are Godly, moral, and virtuous. The importance of religion is prevalent throughout the book. The reader also gets a great education in many elements of our government, such as the separation of powers and the republic form of government.
Most of the great ideas are espoused in the United States Constitution, and that's where "The 5000 Year Leap is most effective. Other topics deal with ideas presented by the founders, and here the explanations are weaker, probably because they appear to be influenced more by the author's opinion, and less by the founders' writings. For example, in the final paragraph of the chapter "Avoid Entangling Alliances," Skousen appears to object to our participation in World War II. (How different would the world be had Hitler been allowed to continue his quest for world domination?) As a Christian, I stand firmly by Israel, and believe that their future is tied to our future as a nation. I think George Washington would approve of these "entangling alliances." Also, the chapter about avoiding debt is somewhat confusing. The author builds a case against a national debt, then writes about how our nation has historically ignored this advice. It seems contradictory give this "idea" credit for building a strong nation, when the policy was ignored only a few generations after the founders' writings.
Still, the logic and research presented by Skousen is too profound to be ignored. A return to the ideas presented herein would certainly improve our nation, and all citizens should be educated about the philosophies that built the USA - the greatest nation in history. Reading this book would certainly help in that endeavor.
(four stars out of five)