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

I like to think of myself as an independent thinker. This book does a great job of breaking down some pretty big problems with government and society. If you are a parent or younger than 40, I finished the book with a bit of different perspective. I actually am not a fan of Mr. Beck, never seen his show. However he does seem to make some very valid points, especially about the economic troubles facing our nation. So, it's a fast read and if you are open minded, it's interesting and does make common sense.

Having never read any of Mr. Beck's books before I did not know what I was in for. It was not what I expected it to be. I found the book to be largely nonpartisan, as Mr. Beck thinks the Democrats and the Republicans are obstacles to his Libertarian philosophies.
Beck is not a great writer, he is an average one, and I get the sense he is okay with that. This is not a text written on an inaccessible, philosophic level, and unlike some reviewers, I don't see that as a bad thing. It allows readers of different talents and abilities to participate in the debate he is engendering.
I follow politics closely, and Beck was still able to come up with some details and facts that I knew little or nothing about. The book is also well sourced, which is an asset. You can't say some of his arguments are wrong when he presents the proof.
The inclusion of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" at the end of this text is this book's real strength. If I had ever read all of it before, I don't remember, and the ideas expressed by that great American over two centuries ago have some profound things to say to us yet. The prescience of "Common Sense" today is truly astounding. There are parts of it that could have been accurately written about this country yesterday. Regardless of your political stripes, you should be able to see the value and wisdom in Mr. Paine's "little pamphlet". If you don't, you are too far gone.

In this book, Glenn Beck makes a fairly solid case for a significant reduction in government involvement in the day-to-day lives of Americans. In doing so, he is fairly balanced with his criticism of both the right and the left; however, he only scratches the surface in many areas, and his lack of sufficient reference to any works cited makes verifying his claims to be a bit more cumbersome than it needs to be.

Beck astutely points out many of the pitfalls of Medicare parts A, B, and D. In chapter 2 he refers to Medicare, just like Social Security, as a "massive Ponzi scheme where the number of those who've been promised benefits greatly exceeds our ability to pay for them." An example of this is the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (that was passed by the Republican controlled congress and President Bush in 2003) that amassed more than $17 billion in unfunded liabilities between 2006 (when it was enacted) and 2009....in addition to the $68 trillion chasm already created by Medicare A and B.

In chapter 4, he builds a case against politicians and how they use the dirty old tactic of Gerrymandering to ensure their own reelection and to keep any like-minded opponents from taking over. He makes several good points here that I'm sure anyone reading would find interesting.

He also discusses, at great length, the corruption and immoral behavior exhibited by politicians in Washington. I agree with his opinion that elected officials should be held to a higher standard and that the leadership on the Hill and in the White House should not tolerate any deviation from acceptable behavior.

Despite the number of interesting points the author does bring up, I really got the sense from this book that Glenn Beck is more interested in virtually zero government because according to him, government can do little more than intrude into good citizens' lives. In very few instances does Beck discuss with any effort how government can benefit people. Had he done so, and clearly articulated a case how government should function, the arguments put forth in this book would have been much stronger. In summary, this work is nothing really special but might be worth the read as it is only 100 or so pages long.

As a fan on Thomas Paine (especially Common Sense and Age of Reason), I was very much excited to read Beck's book. After the first few chapters, I realized there is almost NO connection at all to Paine's work. It seems that it is more of marketing ploy to attach one's name to Paine and use a famous title of Paine's work that inspired a nation, to generate book sales. That initial frustration got me off to a bad start. That is of course in no way reflects Beck's view or his writing. However, I was "fooled" thinking this was a revisit of that classic work "Common Sense" to modern times. Unfortunately the book, other than title, has little if any connection to Paine's work.

Ironically - for those unfamiliar to Paine's work, but a fan of Becks - I wonder how they would find Paine's "Age of Reason" - it would almost stand to reason that he would lose half (if not more) of his supporters if he visited "Age of Reason" - he might even lose his show on Fox. Note any reference to that work is completely devoid in this book (which is a shame - if it where REALLY a tribute or inspiration of Paine - which I begin to wonder.)

However, are we to judge or compare Paine to Beck? Of course not and this certainly is NOT even close to measuring up to any of Paine's works. But the question is it worth the read?

Beck's writing is very weak and many cases repetitive. Not able to grasp tangible arguments he sometimes ventures down ad hominem methods - which lower the value of his arguments. It is important to note that regardless if I agree or disagree with some of this points, his methods and suspicions are conjecture and rudimentary. The connections to past affiliations can lead to suspicion, but certainly does not make the case. It's is logical in approach, but fails in Reason - and that is probably the greatest flaw in Beck's work (as compared to Paine).

Paine used "reason", not just logic to forward his view and arguments, Beck falls flat in this regard. Beck's approach is simple (and I hate to say, but kindergarten) logic. If X is Y, and Y is Z, then Z must be X. On the surface you can make some very stunning conclusions, but the logic is flawed by reason - (unfortunately).

I say unfortunately because Beck has some important points to make and does bring dialogue to the table as per the state of our federal government. This is an important debate as to where we are going, what our future holds, what is the role of the government. However, his ability to string a fluid thought process together with not just logic, but also reason, in order to give weight to his message fails. It is geared way below the bar and is so embarrassingly written for such an important topic that he does his view a disservice.

Beck's problem is not his message, it's his delivery. It reads poorly and a ranting narrative trying to connect minutia based on logic. It most certainly will charge both the left and right (just like his show), but don't expect intelligent debate.

5 stars for a rehash of Beck's message, introducing people to a great and important work (Common Sense). If you love his delivery and his message - then by all means - purchase this book.

1 star for offering any intelligent debate that goes beyond a basic dot-to-dot connection on some frivolous examples. I really wanted this to be an inspirational book, but it significantly falls flat. Unfortunatly it reads as if the town jester is giving an inspiring message.

-5 (that's negative) stars - for making any connection to one of the most important works in U.S. political history, "Common Sense". I would suggest reading "Common Sense", "Age of Reason", "Federalist Papers", and "Anti-Federalist Papers" - to see not only how logic and reason collectively work together, but to gain insight as to what Beck is TRYING to accomplish in this very rudimentary work. At the very least he brings awarness.

The book should be called "Beck's Sense" (logic without reason)

This great quote by Paine explains why the book fails to deliver its important message:
"The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall."

Reviewers Politics: Libertarian/ Laissez Faire

Once again Glenn Beck is correct with his analysis of current events. Unfortunately, I feel a hopeless future for our country. Too much opposition to our "old" way of life. Too many people of power out for themselves. Look at Al Gore alone. He's just there to further his coffers. Is there love for his country or just his pocketbook? We all know the answer. He is of power. Power controls. God bless us. God forgive us.

Try this: go to You Tube and type "India Driving" in the search box. The first result should be a 2:13 video posted by someone named Higgums that shows a busy traffic intersection in India. There are cars going every which way, with no traffic controls or signs, yet everything flows smoothly. There's no accidents, no tie-ups, traffic just manages to move. It's quite an amusing video and really, it is worth 2 minutes of your time to view it.

Now.. take that same intersection and put it in the United States. Instantly the government would take over. Outraged cries for traffic control would be made. An environmental impact study would be made. After about a year, a signal would be erected and signs placed all over the place. Ah yes, our wonderful government steps in to save the day. And traffic would be backed up for miles.

That's the point of Glenn Beck's book. If you view the video I mentioned above and recoil in horror at the traffic, thinking, "oh my, we need to do something about it before a duck gets run over," and "these third world people are so backwards. We truly need to help them!" Then this book is definitely not for you. If you view the video with amusement and marvel at how traffic is able to flow so smoothly despite the intricacies and complications presented by cars and bikes coming from all angles, then this book is for you. Well actually, if you are from the first group maybe this book really is for you because you need it to pound some sense into your head.

That said, most likely my review will now suffer a string of "unhelpful" votes from the liberal bots who mindlessly burrow through reviews of books by people like Glenn Beck, dinging all five-star ones with "not helpful" votes.

Hard to argue with Glenn's logic. Very easy to read and understand. A few of Glenn's observations:
Tax code has expanded from 13 pages to over 64,000 pages.
Congress continues to pass laws that apply to others but not Congress.
Washington thinks they know what's best for you instead of letting you decide what is best for you.
Congress bounced over 3,000 checks but no criminal prosecutions of members of Congress.
Congress continues to say one thing and do another.

For obvious reasons, this book deserves your attention and I'll be passing along my copy to family soon.

FYI - I read my copy 2x!

I've read Paine's work. The version of Paine provided by Beck and his friends is not the real thing. Beck's beliefs not only have little to do with Paine; they are in many respects the exact of opposite of Paine's beliefs. Paine was an opponent of revealed religion (Christianity is a revealed religion). He advocated redistribution of wealth, and he regarded private ownership of land as an abomination. He believed that children should receive a government stipend funded by taxes. And he believed that all adult men should receive quite a large stipend funded from taxes--to compensate for the fact that the wealthy owned so much land. I encourage others to read Paine's writings and perhaps to read Eric Foner's Tom Paine and Revolutionary America. He is a great radical, not a petty reactionary.

Glenn Beck piggybacks on a famous pamphlet ("Common Sense" by Thomas Paine) in order to inspire like minded folks to action. This book is part of his successful 9/12 project and details 9 principles and 12 values and further reading that Beck feels would put America "back on course." (p.110)

Beck's book is intended to be a primer for those new to politics. For those of us who have been paying attention all along, there is little new here but it can be interesting reading just to see what Beck focuses on and how he states his positions.

Many of his points should be alarming to all Americans, including:

a) an out of control national debt (he rips on Bush and Obama with equal venom), a tax code that seems designed to dole out favors to political supporters rather than raise revenue (especially good on pages 39-41);

b) a Congress that exempts itself from its own workplace laws (p. 48);

c) gerrymandered districts that guarantee that there'll be little competition in the general elections (pp. 50-6);

d) the abuse of Eminent Domain (pp. 81-2).

What Beck cannot equal is the carefully-worded, powerful rhetoric of Paine ("These are the times that try men's souls..."). Beck's concerns about the International Rights of the Child treaty and the Americorps program are so weak when compared to the other issues that Beck's texts sort of tapers off to a grumpy monologue rather than rallying the troops with wonderful logic and thundering words like Paine's "Common Sense" did.

If you are interested in skipping Beck's comments completely and just want to know more about the original "Common Sense" I recommend 46 Pages by Scott Liell.

I agree with the basic libertarian message of this book and I do enjoy the current information he provides on how politicians are basically ruining our nation with their pork spending and SELF entitlement programs. But Revolution by Ron Paul achieves the same in a much more sophisticated and aggressive manner.

I do believe that Beck's pacifist spin at the beginning of the book is also a bit too much (he doesn't need to convince everyone about his good intentions, since ANY book can theoretical incite violence and you would have a right to write it anyway in a 'free country').

If we should see it as a manifesto that somehow compares to the original one from Thomas Paine (Beck's laudable intention), it indeed falls a short (which I bet that he honestly can admit).

Nonetheless, I WHOLEHEARTEDLY agree with the intention of the book, and if you are new to political thought and are just finding out that all governments are sleazy (wow if you do!), then this work is for you. If you are, on the other hand, a seasoned student of political theory, and have also a copy of Revolution by Ron Paul (which is also a very basic book but much better), then you can skip Beck and still fight for the same principles (with a bit more information).

In the end, I do hope this book continues on the top, since the basic ideals of Beck are better than the ones any politicians advocates in Washington.