The Desideratum is a book about perversions of thought, the consequences thereof, and the discovery of salvation. It is also about you, the reader of these lines. What kind of a person are you? What kind of a person do you want to be? What kind of a world will you bequeath to your progeny, and to all those yet unborn? As you grow old and look back on your life, what will you see as your contribution to an improved human landscape? Will it be all that you want it to be?
Do you have the courage to admit some of the ideas you harbor in your mind may be faulty and contributing to human turmoil near and far? Do you fear and loath people of other religious persuasions because they have grown up with indoctrinated beliefs different from your own? Will you do nothing as your government engages in horrific wars with dubious and unspoken justifications? Are you aware when your emotions are being manipulated by government lies and propaganda? Will you allow others to teach you to hate unjustly? Will you, like so many others, watch with passive detachment as your nation sinks into a sea of unpayable debt and depreciating fiat money? Do you have any idea of the horror that is coming your way? Will you live a life of indifference because you feel powerless and afraid to act, or will your anger, frustrations, and sense of responsibility, propel you into action and a life of spiritual and social leadership, if even on a small scale?
Before you can answer this final question, you must possess a sufficient level of understanding, not only of the disciplines that are inferred in the above lines, but also of how they are interrelated. That is what this book offers to all who will read it. Is it infallible? No! Is it a major step in the right direction? Yes!
The Desideratum's underlying thesis is that most of the world's problems can ultimately be traced to the plethora of exclusive and competing religions existing in the contemporary world, each of which teaches a beguiling mix of fantasy and reality. Over time, believers lose the ability to recognize fantasy as something that must be purged from social analysis. With minds so conditioned, the faithful unwittingly embrace diverse and tainted versions of morality, economics, politics, and government.
As a consequence of these grievous errors of forebears, the most important and basic belief structures people the world over depend on to guide them in their everyday lives are differentiated and rife with inconsistencies and faulty directives. They are a constant source of irritation and conflict among nations and ethnic groups, and have brought suffering and death to countless millions of people.
The Desideratum offers salvation from these errors. The Desideratum is not a sacred book, nor is it a scholarly work intended for esoteric circles. It is a practical, down-to-earth handbook written for common people seeking understanding in a confused and dangerous world. The handbook examines the essential problems of spirituality (religion), morality, economics, politics, and government. In each case, it illuminates the path that must be followed if people want to leave the present-day morass of spiritual and social horrors behind them and turn toward a future that will provide the highest possible levels of freedom, security, community, dignity, prosperity, and happiness for themselves their loved ones, and for all of humankind.
The solutions offered are not utopian in nature. They do not promise a happy life for all. Rather, they are predicated on the simple assumption that spiritual and social institutions based upon reality, truth, and honesty will always offer the common person a better chance of living a secure and fulfilling life than those based upon spiritual fantasy, false moral systems, economic and political quackery, and institutionalized plunder.
