Monte L. Pearson

Thank you for visiting! I strongly urge you to read the five page Preface at the beginning of my book. It will give you a good feel for the nature of this project and of my writing style. I try to be straightforward, using data to back up my statements, rather than just spewing out opinions. Just click on the book icon at the top of the page and you can read it.

The Roots of Defeat is the product of six years of research, trying to understand why President Obama was such a disappointment. My thoughts really came together after Hillary Clinton's stunning defeat. I think the Democratic Party is much too attached to Wall Street and the Wall Street mind set to advocate for the needs of the average American.

I am also the author of Perils of Empire: the Roman Republic and the American Republic, a book about civil liberties and militarism in a very old and a relatively new republic.

I have spent my life working in a variety of non-profit organizations, addressing issues of disabilities, environmental preservation, job training, health care reform, and African American history. Each of those agencies and the people they served were greatly effected by the successes and failures of the Democratic Party.

I grew up on Orchard Prairie, near Spokane, Washington and earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington, in Seattle. I also have a Masters Degree in Political Science and Public Policy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. I now live and work in the Boston area. My wife Martha, who is in one of my bio photos, is one of my editors and my best friend.

I came to realize, as we struggled to help people hurt by recession and discrimination, that we will prosper only if we work together to make the party stand up for the needs of average Americans. Too often the party is only interested in raising money and hiding in the middle of the road on political issues.

Think, but be Active

I try to be active as well. I have volunteered with many advocacy organizations over the years - I participated in the Nuclear Freeze Movement in the 1980s and was a member of the group that pressured the state of Massachusetts to divest from South Africa. I became aware of the threat of global climate change in the 1990s and have been an active environmentalist since then. Most recently, I worked with people in my community to save a 250-acre forest from the bulldozers.

I hope my new book gives you information and the tools you need to think for yourself about complicated economic issues - issues that deeply affect your life and the lives of everyone you know and care about. I firmly believe that only when many people take up the cause of economic justice for everyone can we heal our broken country.