I am honored to dedicate the electronic version of Healing Our World: The Other Piece of the Puzzle to my younger sister, Martie. Her invaluable contributions to Healing are described in the Acknowledgements. Martie lived with me during the last few months of her life, as she fought a losing battle with cancer. One of Martie's final requests was that her savings be used to promote the principles of Healing throughout the world. Making the electronic version of Healing freely available is a fitting legacy to her memory. Proceeds from the print version will help to translate, print, and distribute Healing Our World abroad. Russian, Serbian, Rumanian, and Lithuanian editions are already available. If you like Healing, help spread the good news throughout the world!
We've seen the power of win-win strategies in our personal lives. As a result,
enlightened self interest includes loving our neighbor and taking responsibility
for our thoughts, words, and deeds.
When we deal with groups of individuals through social actions, however,
we inadvertently ignore these time-honored principles. Instead of seeking
solutions where everybody benefits, we erroneously assume that poverty can
only be alleviated by taking from the rich, that a compromised environment
is the inevitable result of material progress, and that societal well-being
is inconsistent with the selfish nature of humankind. We set the poor against
the rich, the industrialist against the environmentalists, the special interests
against the common good. We create enemies where friends should be, Like
a house divided against itself, we inevitably fall into a state of poverty
and strife.
Dr. Ruwart shows us how to transcend these win-lose scenarios by systematically
applying the win-win tactics to our social interaction that have proves
so successful in our personal lives. HEALING OUR WORLD is the first book
to integrate the common elements of our Judeo-Christian heritage, the personal
self-responsibility of the Aquarian Age, and the political self-responsibility
of the worldwide libertarian movement. "The Easy Way Out" os the
realization that others do not create our global harmony and abundance any
more than they create our inner peace and enrichment; our reactions to others
determine our fate.
By basing our social action on the same principles that govern our individual
relationships, we can create a win-win world of peace and plenty, where
everyone comes out ahead, With historical examples, Dr. Ruwart meticulously
documents the effectiveness of this approach in the mist stringent testing
ground of all- the real world. Startling in its simplicity, powerful on
its application, HEALING OUR WORLD provides 'the ammunition that a thinking
and acting (activist) person needs to make a difference on all fronts of
the social struggle occurring in America today." (Joseph Terrano, Visions
Magazine)
Healing Our World is a rare book that challenges numerous aspects of conventional wisdom that we accept as axiomatically true. For example, a major dimension of this book is its linkage between out spiritual perspective and our economic well-being. At first, these two might seem like strange bedfellows, but Dr. Ruwart leads readers with her gentle touch to a world in which the interdependence of the hard sciences, social sciences. and spirituality become clear. Hard facts presented in a sensitive, readable style focus attention on the urgent need for our policy makers to be more careful about the 'evidence' upon which many of their policies are based. Healing Our World gently and provocatively challenges its readers to recognize the coercive nature of the government intervention we often consider as inevitable of government-initiated aggression in prescribing day-to-day regulations and taxes. Dr. Ruwart's book is a refreshing and unusual approach that refocuses public attention on the danger of sanctioning collective action that would be repugnant to us if practiced individually. Herein, Dr. Ruwart claims, is the key to the 'easy way out' to a win-win world of abundance and harmony. Healing Our World paints a clear and compelling picture of a vision within our grasp, thereby empowering and inspiring every person working for a better world.
-Frances Kendall and Leon Louw Nobel Peace Prize nominees, 1989, 1991,
1992
A book such as this one takes only years to write, but its preparation
takes decades. Along the way, some very special people mark the milestones
in that journey. This book would not be complete without acknowledging their
contributions.
My first introduction to political awareness came from Walt Disney's programs
on our nation's founding. My parents, who brought me up in loving, in learning,
and in awareness, nurtured my early research into the full meaning of the
American Revolution. In college, Gary Fairfax introduced me to the enlightening
writings of Ayn Rand. Years later, Sheryl Loux expanded my political consciousness
further by exposing me, in great detail, to the application of libertarian
principles and by encouraging me to run for local office.
When Roger Gary suggested that I run for the 1984 Presidential nomination
of the Libertarian Party, I discovered yet another dimension of political
life: the common perception that principles and practicality, ends and means,
are disassociated. All of these pieces of the puzzle fell into place through
interactions with R. Francis White who unwittingly inspired me to put pen
to paper. Without the experiences that these people brought into my life,
this book might never have been written.
Throughout the years of writing, my sister, Martie Ruwart, shared the vision
from which this book was created. She encouraged me, inspired me, and expertly
critiqued my drafts. Without her in my life, I'm not sure I would have persevered.
My father shouldered more than his share of our rehabilitation business,
giving me time to work on the manuscript. In addition to my sister and father,
Sheryl, Roger, and Gary read over my drafts, giving me helpful suggestions.
Other valuable comments came from Julie Bortnik, Dick Brown, Mac Calhoun,
Lynette Dumble, Carol Hoeve, Janet Howard, Andre Marrou, Pat Peterson, Bob
Rush, Clark Smith, Michael Smith, Karen Ruwart Swindell, Jerry van Natta,
Connie Vinci, Luanne Willbanks, and Jarret Wollstein. Their input helped
me to address each issue thoroughly.
I am also grateful for the excellent assistance of my editor, Barbara Hart
and her staff at Publications Professionals; Brian Betzold, my cartoonist;
David Howard, who designed the cover; and Ed and Judy Petzold of PCCResources
for preparing the computer-drawn figures and the text formatting. They all
provided me with talent beyond my own.
Many other people gave me support, encouragement, and suggestions when they
learned about this book. To them, I also extend my heartfelt thanks. Let
me remind everyone who participated in this undertaking, in however small
a way, of the importance of each contribution. No one writes a book like
this one alone!