Authors

The year 2008 is not the first time our country has faced a debt and mortgage crisis with profound consequences for our freedom—our economic freedom, our political freedom, and even our national freedom.

There has been a great deal of concern about what is called "civic illiteracy," the fact that not only students but even adults don't know the most basic principles of our government. Various groups, such as the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, have conducted surveys which indicate that, even in some of the best colleges and universities, students know less about the Constitution and about American history when they graduate than when they entered. Even those who score best seldom make above a 50 on a multiple-choice test.

Today, because of the United States, more people throughout the world live in freedom than at any time in history. If we are willing to accept the challenge, it may yet be our destiny to change the course of history and to establish freedom as a universal value.