For One and All
A review of “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine (and Glenn Beck’s Common Sense)
By Julia A. Keirns
Common Sense, a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in January 1776, sparked the American Revolution from British rule and encouraged the common folk to stand up and fight for their own government. It was sold and widely distributed and read in taverns aloud for all to hear. It remains one of the all-time best-selling American titles and is still in print today. If that isn’t a classic, I don’t know what is.
I purchased the book, Glenn Beck’s Common Sense, published in 2009 (10 years ago) to read his case against an out-of-control government, and also because the book included a complete copy of Thomas Paine’s original masterpiece. Everything I read in this book still holds true today. It is time to put principles above parties and use our common sense as people. Thomas Paine was just an ordinary man who knew what he believed in and knew how to put it into words that most all of his fellow countrymen would understand. His words rallied the people. Not many authors can do that. It seems to me that we are back on the verge of losing the very freedoms he fought for and the people need to stand up against a corrupt government system once again. Sad, that they had to leave Britain to get away from corrupt rule and gain freedom. Where will we go? How do we get away from our corrupt rule and once again gain freedom? We have nowhere else to go, so we are challenged with the task of simply taking back our government and our great country from those who would destroy it. We need to bring the politicians back to reality and let them know that they work for us.
Thomas Paine begins his document with words that state “a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” He continues with the words “in the following pages I offer nothing more than simple facts, plain arguments and common sense.” And he ends with the request that “however strange it may appear to some…nothing can settle our affairs so expeditiously as an open and determined declaration of independence.” Within 7 months of this publication the official Declaration of Independence was penned. No other document has had as much influence as Common Sense did.
Beck’s purpose, I believe, in his version is to rally the American people once again to put the government back in their place so they don’t get out of control. America is a republic, not a democracy. A republic means that sovereignty rests with us the people, not them, the politicians. The representatives are supposed to represent us and what we want. For too long we have been told what we want. It is time for leaders to step up and tell the government to stop telling us what we want.
But be warned people, Glenn Beck warns that for those who fight and resist, the government is watching. It doesn’t matter if it is common sense, or fact…if it goes against the “agenda” it will be targeted and shot down.
I believe all “career” politicians, both parties, are partially if not mostly corrupt and this book reinforces those ideas and beliefs. This is a great book for all people to read. It is not meant to be republican, democratic, libertarian or from any other view. It is simply meant to be from the view of the normal common person struggling in a country where rich politicians make the rules that we have to live by. The original manuscript by Thomas Paine is definitely a book that has stood the test of time. I suggest it be read by one and all no matter what your views. It was written for one and all and deserves to be read by one and all.