Thomas Paine he ain’t, but it’s good
Posted by Steve Brownlee on August 11, 2009Aug 11
I recently read Glenn Beck’s Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine, and was very pleased with how the book was crafted and authored. There were several points in the book where the language deviated from a calm and cool demeanor, which serves its message well, and the author used terms that were unneccesarily crude or clumsy.
However, if you have any interest in understanding the basics of how the political class has slowly, but steadily, poisoned the Republic that our Founding Fathers establish for us, then you will find this book eye-opening to say the least.
You will see how the deck is stacked against us, and how the two major political parties have, in every sense of the phrase, pulled the wool over our eyes to keep us blind to the insidious changes and corruptions to the basics ideals of liberty, freedom, and private property over the years.
Also, if you identify yourself as a Progressive, then this book is a must read as you might change your mind as to how you label yourself.
If you are frustrated with how this country has plummeted economically and lost many of its features as a Republic of free people, then this book will give you some great insight into how you CAN make change and throw off the indoctrination that the major political parties have submitted you to.
** Addendum: The original Common Sense by Thomas Paine is included at the end of this book, so you are getting two for the price of one.
Sorry, can’t get passed this guy so probably not interested in his book. The fake crying on TV. The “If I can get my AC to be at 60 degrees then I will do it, because I can”. No thanks.
Like you I am also a developer. Here is my take on economy, excuse the overly cheesly url. http://2009depression.com/ (includes charts from flare data visualization).
I’d like to see a book explaining how Glenn Beck became famous enough to be a political “authority”.
yikes: I guess is depends on your definition of authority. The book is written in a voice of an average citizen who has a basic knowledge of our governmental system, and some of the laws that have been passed over the years that can be considered contrary to the Constitution.
By no means is it a course in political science or history, so I don’t assume Glenn Beck to be an authority.
Perhaps my enjoyment of the book stems from this fact, and also from the fact that I had no idea who Glenn Beck is until after I finished it and then investigated the author’s bio.
Jason: If you are able to read a book and suspend your knowledge of the author – which I believe is irrelevant in this case – then you might enjoy it. If not, then I know of many other similarly written books out there on the subject authored by people whom you never heard of.
Thanks for the post, Steve. I may have to grab a copy of this book, although if what you say is true I may scared to see what it reveals!
I have both this book and the original. Someone (a liberal friend) on facebook was complaining that Beck shouldn’t steal the title from someone who is supposedly liberal (Thomas Paine).
I’m curious to read both and find out how Beck handles this. If you watch his show lately the man has gone pretty crazy. What’s sadder still is that he’s gone crazy because he actually believes all this stuff. Even crazier is that I believe it to to a large extent so it’s a bit like watching myself go crazy in some alternate dimension lol!
I’ll have to do a post when I finish reading both books.