cover image Future Perfect: Present Empowerment: A Road Map for Success in the 21st Century

Future Perfect: Present Empowerment: A Road Map for Success in the 21st Century

William B. Williams. Patriot's Pub., $29.95 (379pp) ISBN 978-0-9645641-0-7

This offbeat, freewheeling self-help guide begins by describing a set of mental exercises, including the ``Black Box Technique'' (filling in unknown events between two known points in time), Occam's razor (finding the simplest explanation that fits the facts) and Einsteinian thought-experiments (mentally traveling to any place or time in the universe). Williams, who describes himself as a self-made multimillionaire who retired from the business world at the age of 39, applies these techniques in a speculative fashion to the origins of the universe; biological evolution; the rise and fall of Egypt, Greece and Rome; the history of America from Columbus to Newt Gingrich. He then identifies key abilities (effective planning, thinking in the future, self-sacrifice, etc.) that affect the success or failure of individuals, businesses, organizations and societies. He proposes Constitutional amendments that would mandate a balanced federal budget within five years, give the President a line-item veto and restore democracy, which, he claims, has been undermined by corrupt post-Watergate Congresses serving special interests. This stimulating, unorthodox manual offers a cornucopia of ideas. Photos. 100,000 first printing; $250,000 ad/promo; author tour. (Sept.)