The 8th Deadly Sin
The Slow Erosion of the American Way of Life!
The Seven Deadly Sins are Pride Envy Gluttony Lust Anger Greed and Sloth each with a specific punishment in hell. Pride is to be broken on a wheel. Dismemberment while alive is the penalty for Anger the Glutton is forced to eat rats toads and snakes. Lt. Col. (ret) Fred Stone goes one step further and states that Denial is also a Sin the Eighth. He writes “Americans overwhelmingly are unwilling to take responsibility for their mistakes preferring instead to blame others for their failures. Denial and blame cuts across every segment of society the rich and poor religious and atheist political activists and disinterested unregistered voters… We have honed denial to a razor’s edge: No one is immune from the failing.”
The current national debt is one of America’s denial points. Stone writes “Few Americans are aware of and even fewer appreciate the implications of the huge debt in Treasury notes being held by foreign investors.” Stone quotes an article written by Anna Aquindlen in the February 7 2005 issue of Newsweek “More than 40 of our national debt is held by other countries… China holds 500 billion in Treasury bonds Japan 720 billion.” Americans are in denial of the inevitable failure of the Social Security program; they are in denial that the earth will be able to support an increase in population and that they can continue living an instant gratification lifestyle. Americans are in denial thinking that the current governmental administration cares about long-term affects while in actuality it is motivated by the short-term specifically corporate profits. They are in certainly denial if they don’t realize that the oil-based economy is about to collapse. And finally Americans are deeply in denial if they think that current foreign policies and military strategies will be successful in the Middle East.
Stone’s book exposes the American citizenry to its short-comings and downright failings as a democratic society. Sometime in the last three or four decades he says Americans have mutated into a nation of gluttonous over-consumers. Because of wide-spread technological advancements the United States is under constant scrutiny by third world countries who see a land of rude obese and wasteful entertainment seekers. “The hatred mixed with the envy of America by so many around the world is reinforced each time they see or hear on television the Internet or some other news media the material wealth enjoyed by Americans…and all taken for granted; indeed viewed as a birthright by the American people.”
The 8th Deadly Sin isn’t an America-hating Bush-bashing rant or even a forecast of doom and gloom. The 8th Deadly Sin is a book written for citizens that share Stone’s love of country and his sense of honor and duty. Through Stone’s military background life experience and intensive independent studies he has come up with a pro-active plan to make the United States worthy of its position as the world’s major super power. Stone believes that Americans should stand up to their duty as role models for the rest of humanity. If economic environmental and ethical changes are not made soon he warns Americans may discover that the punishment for the 8th Deadly Sin isn’t an underworld domain of flames and pitchforks but the man-made Hell of Planet Earth.
Reviewed by
Lee Gooden
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
