The Ashley Cooper Plan: The Founding of Carolina and the Origins of Southern Political Culture Paperback – March 1, 2016

A must read by community leaders, land planners, political junkies, history buffs and those who think today’s problems are brand new, as I did.In today’s politics we often hear of individuals “evolving” on issues. This book steps way back, and takes the broad view of evolution in politics and philosophy, specifically in the southern regions of the US. It begins with the principles of the Enlightenment struggling to take hold in the authoritarian Old World and the journey to southern shores of the New World. There were those hoping to more freely plant seeds of rationalism and egalitarianism in freshly hewn communities. Alas, author Thomas Wilson’s research details the beleaguered efforts to realize this wonderful experiment in an environment of wilderness, natives, foreign influx, Old World entitlement, power struggled and greed. We learn who are the idealists, who are the lackeys of power and what compromises are made under duress of survival, and temptations of wealth. The arguments and impassioned words of our first community leaders are revealing and perhaps even shocking to those who still refuse to “evolve” by misrepresenting the past. Compromise can be good, but current compromise is impossible without seeing and understanding the huge philosophies that must come together. A must read by community leaders, land planners, political junkies, history buffs and those who think today’s problems are brand new, as I did.Compromise can be good, but current compromise is impossible without seeing and understanding the huge philosophies that must come together. A must read by community leaders, land planners, political junkies, history buffs and those who think today’s problems are brand new, as I did.

Not only should urban planners, climate scientists, and government officials read this book; it should be assigned reading for political science and history courses. The author gives the reader an entertaining history of the influences and founding philosophies that shaped our country and also shows how idealistic principles such as equality, social justice, and reciprocity of duties and benefits were subverted by those seeking profit and power. We are still living our history. The author provides an eye-opening picture of how our country's past still shapes our society and culture today. The book ends by providing arguments and methods urban planners and others may use to counter special interests in order to further the common good.