The Predicament; How Did It Happen? How Bad is it? The Case for Radical Change Now!

The format is approximately 6 inches by 9 inches. [8],168, 8 pages. Footnotes. Illustrations (some with color). Index. Cover has some wear and soiling. Inscribed by the author on the title page. The inscription reads For Phil With appreciation and friendship David. Also inscribed by the author on the Dedication page. The inscription there read For Dennis Brewer With Appreciation David. Bookmark associated with this publication laid in! David L. Smith writes and speaks as an Economist, Market Strategist, Futurist and Geopolitical Commentator. Born and raised in Argentina, Mr. Smith colors his writing and presentations with a bi-cultural international perspective. Mr. Smith earned his bachelor's degree with honors in economics from Dartmouth College and his master's degree in finance with distinction from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Following graduation from Dartmouth, Mr. Smith served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, aboard a destroyer during the Cuban Missile Crisis, later assigned to the U.S. Marine Corps as a Naval Gunfire Liaison Officer, and serving a tour in Danang, South Vietnam. His broad perspective on the world economy and financial markets was gained through a 35-year career in the financial arena, including securities analysis with Wells Fargo Bank and Shuman Agnew in San Francisco; mergers and acquisitions in aviation with Bangor Punta Corporation in Connecticut, parent company of Piper Aircraft Corporation among others; and back in San Francisco as a financial planner with Capital Analysts; as president and CEO of Alma Securities. In The Predicament, Dartmouth- and Stanford-trained economist and futurist David L. Smith explains how the present domestic economic, financial and political dysfunctions emerged after the relatively balanced and prosperous Eisenhower years. In foreign policy, the author vividly describes the fulfillment of President Eisenhower's warnings of the "grave implications" of a military complex committed to the Orwellian nightmare of perpetual war. His unsparing analysis provides liberals with compelling rebuttals to extremist conservative memes and open-minded conservatives with convincing reasons to reconsider positions antithetical to their best interests. Demonstrating how rising inequality of wealth created the economic crisis of 2008-2009, Mr. Smith makes a compelling case for a radical change of direction to forestall further calamities; to restore the solvency, prosperity and contentment of the middle class; to relieve the plight of the poor. He also proposes a reversal of course in the disturbing and dangerous escalation of violence between Islam and the West, concluding with an appeal for reconciliation and peace between the two cultures. Identifying the root cause of the American Predicament as the hijacking of the democratic process by a rich and powerful elite, Mr. Smith proposes a completely new democratic political process, bypassing Big Money and television, to reorient government to the service of We The People. George Santayana once sagely observed, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." In writing The Predicament: How did it happen? How bad is it? The case for radical change now! the author intends to assist younger generations and conscience-driven older generations to remember the past, and thus commute the sentence. Second edition [stated]. Presumed first printing thus.…