Eminent Disdain

About the Book

This book comments on serious social, economic, political, historical, environmental and other issues which have tested our elected governments from both parties.  It points out areas of Constitutional conflict, political inertia, selective law enforcement and others that pose a real peril to our republic.

            Whether in our foreign, economic, immigration, health care, agricultural or other policy choices, it finds a common thread which ties our elected representatives to the service of interests that are special rather than national.

            At the root of these failed policy and legislative efforts is an equally damaging failure of our electoral system whereby money is dominant and delivers a Congress that enjoys an incumbency reelection rate of over 90%.

            Not all of our problems are internal, however.  The role assigned to America as sole superpower following the collapse of the USSR has been one which called for our assumption, but for which we were psychologically and historically less than suited.  The point is not whether others could do better, but rather that it has had a negative impact upon our national character and actions.

            This book makes clear that unless we are willing to make a real effort to return to the principles and ideals of our founding and literally “pull ourselves together”, our enviable experiment in representative democracy will no longer be able to meet the needs of its citizens and will fail due to our lack of will, not its merit.

About the Author

Retired business man with a marketing background who has worked in the energy (wind, solar, petroleum, mixed alcohols), financial services and venture capital sectors.  He was a co-founder of the Venture Capital Corp. of America and continues to serve as a special limited partner.

            His first book was A Retail Food Study (LaRoche & Co., NYC, 1957) which analyzed the postwar revolution in food retailing and the growing dominance of the supermarket.

            He is a political independent, having been equally disappointed by both  major political parties, and is deeply concerned by the deterioration of our government, the widespread corruption throughout our society and the consequent failure of many of our most basic institutions to protect those for whose protection they were created.

            Mr. Ault’s concern for the state of our nation, its people and its politics became so strong that in 2003 he founded the Center for Public Conscience and began writing a quarterly subscription letter entitled Matters of Conscience that commented on our failure to address serious ethical, economic, social, political, cultural and environmental issues.

            Mr. Ault was born in 1927 in Cincinnati, OH and moved to NYC in 1930 where he grew up during the depression years.  His education includes The Buckley School in NYC, Phillips Academy, Andover MA and Yale University from which he received a BA degree in 1949.

            He has lived in Florida for the past 14 years but hopes to return to New England when the real estate market permits.  His quality of life is greatly enhanced by the company of his dog, “Blue”, a mixed breed of presumed shepherd/husky parentage.