Glenn Beck's Common Sense: The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government, Inspired by Thomas Paine

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It's a hit!

Very great book, couldn't be happier to have read it! Of course I already loved Glenn Beck before reading this, read all his other books, watch his... (show more)

Very great book, couldn't be happier to have read it! Of course I already loved Glenn Beck before reading this, read all his other books, watch his show anytime I can, went to the Simulcast, ect, ect... but this was a balanced look at how both sides have been heading us down the wrong path for some time now. It has given me more motivation to continue to read up on our nations history, do my own research & homework and has inspired me to take action (www.MuskegonPatriots.com) --little plug if you want to get involved.

Doesn't matter if your name would have a "D", an "R", or the the ever growing "I" beside it, all should read this book!!

Here, as I like to do after most books I have read lately, are a few quotes from "Common Sense".

"We did not vote to change the Republic, we voted to change Washington. We wanted the lies, corruption, and childish "but they started it" games to end. Instead we now see that things have only gotten worse and that the "change" the political elite think we wanted was the transition to a system based on entitlements and handouts."

""Through blood and sacrifice we have been given the precious gift of self rule and freedom. But because this gift was simply handed to us, we esteem it far too lightly. Many an erstwhile patriot has sold his birthright for the perceived security of "free government housing," corportate or personal welfare dipendency, or by failing to remember the delicate balance between master and minion."

"Thomas Jefferson knew that government debt was not only bad economic policy but also marally unaceptable because it effectively makes your childeren responsible to pay for what you bought. He said, 'The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futuurity on a large scale.' If that wasn't clear enough, he also said that politicians should consider themselves 'unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves.'"

"Are any additional broken promises needed for us to finally realize that these parties all come from the same contaminated source? Both have been infected with progressivism - the belief that your individual rights are subservient to government power and that no personal liberty is above sacrificing for the greater good."

"The presidential election of 2008 was truly a repeat of the presidential election of 1912, in which America was really only offered a Progressive Republican and a Progressive Democrat as candidates."

"Parallels bewteen the wordss and actions of our current president and those of our Progressive forefathers aren't hard to find, either. Woodrow Wilson once said, 'We must demand that the individual shall be willing to lose the sense of personal achievement and shall be content to realize his activity only in connection to the activity of the many.' That sounds eerily like President Obama's campaign answer to Joe the Pumber, who was worried that his taxes would rise. It's not that I want to punish your success,' Obama told him. 'I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance to success, too. I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.'"

"with that being said, make no mistake, NOW IS THE TIME. This is a call for action. Stand and link arm in arm. Our nation is being redefined right in front of our eyes; it is time we have a say in what it will look like. We must draw a line in the sand and let our voices be heard loud and clear: Don't Tread on Me." (show less)

 

 

by LeRoy William Beck

No, it's a flop!

As a libertarian, I first heard of Beck and was immediately suspicious. He seems to preach the right message when it comes to economics and governm... (show more)

As a libertarian, I first heard of Beck and was immediately suspicious. He seems to preach the right message when it comes to economics and government paternalism but there was the social aspect which he seemed to consciously leave out. So, Common Sense does a good job keeping on topic of instilling a limited government like the Founding Fathers believed in. I had to question why he put in the original Common Sense by Paine though. If his words were that good, wouldn't people go out and read Paine's? I fear a majority of his readers will be gung-ho on his part and then slowly but surely drift away once the old english begins. It's not a rip on the intelligence of his audience, it's pretty common that old english is awkward if not boring. The few books he does list at the end are good references but I would have hoped he put down the Constitution and a few American history books that would give us perspective on how things were and are.
About halfway through, he starts menitoning God a lot. That's awesome if you are religious and all that, but when you are talking about government paternalism, you probably don't want to talk about an all-knowing, all-seeing supreme being. At least, many libertarians I know are pretty anti-God and it gets them going when a guy calling himself a libertarian starts throwing it in with economics and how the nation is to be governed. Go God but numbers come first. Enjoy. (show less)

 

 

by Dan Barrett

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  Although Glenn Beck's Common Sense maxes out at only 111 pages, it still packs a heavy punch that leaves the reader with a sour taste in his/her mouth.

  On nearly every page I could litteraly feel my blood pressure rise as Beck outlined and explained all the ridiculous, stupid, moronic, selfish acts of our politicians in power and shows how if we stick to this path, our once great country of America will perish under laws, debt, and general idiocy.

  Perhaps the most shocking, and revealin... (show more)

  Although Glenn Beck's Common Sense maxes out at only 111 pages, it still packs a heavy punch that leaves the reader with a sour taste in his/her mouth.

  On nearly every page I could litteraly feel my blood pressure rise as Beck outlined and explained all the ridiculous, stupid, moronic, selfish acts of our politicians in power and shows how if we stick to this path, our once great country of America will perish under laws, debt, and general idiocy.

  Perhaps the most shocking, and revealing part of this book lies in the quotations from our founding fathers. We, as a nation, have become exactly what they feared and percisly the very thing they tried to escape from the tyranical rule of Britain. Also, thanks to Mr. Beck, I have completely lost respect for T. Roosevelt and the rest of the feeble minded progressives.

  All in all, if your pissed off and mad about it, read this book. It's nice to know that there are others out there who think the same as you do! (show less)

   

   

  by Jordan Anderson on Jul 24, 2009 at 07:30PM

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  As indicated in this work's sub-heading, Beck's work is themed around Thomas Paine's pamphlet of the same title, originally published in January of 1776--just seven months prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

  "Common Sense" amounts to Beck's call-to-action for a nation that has fallen asleep, abdicated their civic duties to pay attention to what's happening, and complements this call with a very broad (and, at times, infuriating) detailing of our government's ... (show more)

  As indicated in this work's sub-heading, Beck's work is themed around Thomas Paine's pamphlet of the same title, originally published in January of 1776--just seven months prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

  "Common Sense" amounts to Beck's call-to-action for a nation that has fallen asleep, abdicated their civic duties to pay attention to what's happening, and complements this call with a very broad (and, at times, infuriating) detailing of our government's ongoing assaults on our civil liberties.

  "Liberties," here should be a key term here; Beck is known to his listeners to have moved from conservative to right-leaning libertarian in his views (whether this reflects a true conversion or a pragmatic maneuver to address a larger threat to the American political process itself is unclear).

  Beck begins his assessment by identifying the professional politicians that make up congress and the White House (both Democrats and Republicans alike) as the 'Political Class.' He devotes an entire chapter specifying the many ways in which this segment of American society has (ab)used its status as lawmakers to separate themselves from the very people they presume to represent. By the time one completes his survey, it becomes clear how congress continues to earn abysmally low approval ratings, yet still maintains its ability to continue business as before: the rules of government have been customized to suit their favor.

  Consequently, he asks readers to quit supporting either party, to quit merely voting "against" someone, and to vote "for" candidates willing to stand in the way of Progressive Tyranny--even if it means becoming part of the 4-5% third-party voters. To Beck, a vote on one's conscience is never wasted.

  His ideas resonate with other thinkers who believe that, as much as the electorate could care about the results of each election, in the long run, the politicians care far more. If each American were to vote their conscience each time, and ignore the pragmatic entreaties that we keep voting for "the lesser of two evils" (usually along partisan lines), the political class will fear the people once again.

  Short of this, American citizens will only be empowering a political elite who would return the favor by inflaming people as a means of control: by dividing people through controversial policy debates, without actually ever solving them, each party secures for itself a reliable base of support; it serves neither party's interest to strike the resounding blow in any of these issues, for they are the means by which endless donations can be raised, and job security ensured. Moreover, this division would prevent the nation from rising up against the political class and their economic excesses.

  Beck's own principled dismissal of the two dominant parties in Washington comes with a likened call for independence from the Political Class, and to circumvent the standing order through grass-roots campaigns in support of independent candidates. It's not clear whether this means for Beck a full abandonment of a social conservatism, (his language suggests he remains partial to a right-of-center point of view); it may be that he sees the Progressive expansion of governmental power as a sufficient enough threat to hold his conservative instincts at bay until the freedoms of all citizens, including the socially liberal, can be secured. (show less)

   

  by Facebook-användare on Jun 28, 2009 at 01:15AM

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