So, I’ve finished the Constitution Series which I’ll edit occasionally. There are some topics that still need to be expanded, like, the presidents under the Articles of the Confederation. There were seven presidents after the 1776 Declaration of Independence before the ratification of the Constitution in 1789, under which General George Washington became the “first” President. If John Hanson, the first president under the Articles of the Confederation, had been recognized as the “first” US President, the quarter and dollar bill would picture a pudgy, pampered, privileged looking merchant aristocrat.

Like most Americans, I was spoon fed the sanctity of the Constitution drafted by the divinely inspired Founding Fathers. The reality is that economics, not ideals, was the driving factor to implement a national Constitution. In essence, the American Revolution usurped the British tax masters only to be supplanted by local tax masters. The debt masters, mostly foreign and otherwise, were never challenged. The debt before, during, and after the revolution, which increased substantially, was held sacred, and the Founding Fathers insured that this debt, along with newly imposed taxes, was honored and upheld with military might. Miscreants who thought otherwise about taxes and debt were on the receiving end of this military might, as evidenced in the Shays’ and Whiskey Rebellions.

I’m reminded of the lyrics by The Who – “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” Unfortunately, we have been fooled again. What will it take to exorcize the embedded flaw, noted by every prophet, perpetuated in the legal tender form of money?

So, for now, I’ve taking a break from any more series. I’ll fine tune the existing series and post topical. I’m now indulging myself in an escapist historical fiction novel, mental porting back to the time of Egypt and Rome, Cleopatra and Caesar. She birthed his son, and then three of Marc Antony’s children, while maintaining the independence of Egypt to the bitter end. I’ m close to finishing this 950 page epic, and I now look forward to reading Margaret George’s other novel, Henry the VIII. And what happened to the son of Cleopatra and Caesar, the rightful heir to the Roman and Egyptian empires? Well, there’s a story worthy of a great fictional history novel.

As usual, when I read a novel like this, there’s the economic angle. Cleopatra ruled over a vast wealth in gold and assets that would be the envy of King Croesus and the Federal Reserve. She financed Marc Antony’s army of 100,000 against Octavia. Her image was stamped on coins of gold, not on a debased metal where George Washington’s image now resides; however, George’s image does serve well as a public relations medium for perpetuating the Founding Fathers myth.

Several days later......

Well, I finished Margaret George's Cleopatra, and Octavia had the son of Cleopatra and Caesar hunted down and killed as he was escaping to India. Imagine if he had lived, what a legacy! So he died in his late teens which could make an interesting novel from the son's perspective. Cleopatra's three other children from Marc Antony [2 sons, 1 daughter] went to live in Rome, and were eventually married off to minor Kings and Queens. Through Marc Antorny's daughter from his Roman wife, Antony became an ancestor to Caligula, Cladius, and Nero. Caligual eventually killed one the sons of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Such a loving family!