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Glenn Beck struggles to make more sense than monkeys on typewriters. Save your money and don't buy this drivel.

I have learned so much from this book and Arguing with Idiots. I don't think I ever learned so much about the founding from all of my school years added together. Anyone who questions GB should read this book. You may not agree, but by golly he loves this country. That's how it made me feel, Inspired with a sense of urgency.

"Written" by Glenn Beck. What else does someone with functioning synapses need to know? Don't waste your money.

Mr. Beck's small book, slightly longer than Mr. Paine's Pamphlet, which is included, are both very fast reads. Thomas Paine's pamphlet published in 1776, Common Sense challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain. Mr. Beck uses the plain and simplistic language of today so that all who read his work should understand his points, which was the same goal Mr. Paine had. Whereas Thomas Paine was placing into words the inspiration that would aid the nation in its revolt for independence much of what he wrote had been discussed and known by the people of his time for a long while. The same is true of Mr. Becks booklet, everything he writes about are known or felt by most citizens. They both emphasis in their own way and relative to the times in which they live the responsibility, accountability, and liability of government and how they are to be answerable to the people. Mr, Beck has many valid points and hopefully this small work will start an open dialogue on the state of the U.S. Federal Government and its perpetual state of expansion. How far has the Republic fallen from its original founding and the Natural Rites of the people. The author does not use his platform to defend his political party but rather warns as the founding father did that a two party system is not good for a healthy Republic. The author points out that both prevalent political parties have contributed to the problems we face today as a nation. The main focus of the book is that all the branches of the U.S. government are acting in their self interest. The politicians are not concerned with the well being of the country or their constitutes whom they are suppose to represent. But only interested their reelection, power and progressive agenda. Which of course he relates to their the out-of-control spending currently taking in place in Washington now that started over sixty years ago. This is not tied to any one political party, both major parties are equally to blame. This is not new knowledge and why I feel he used the Common Sense addition to his title for no person or government can survive through excessive spending far beyond their means. But it is not just the out-of-control spending, the author very plainly lays out the case against the continually increasing size of government resulting in the erosion of individual liberties. Liberties that were won with blood. To rectify this Mr. Beck advocates a non-violent revolution to hold our elected representative accountable and make the government act in interest of the American people and not their own. He suggest this revolution use the hard won rights of our Republic through Free Speech, the electoral process and vote out all who work for there self-interest instead of the people they were elected/hired to represent. He only ask that you do your homework and vote for the person that tells the truth and then is closes to how you wish the country governed. The U.S. Politicians of today have shown they have no interest at all to listen to their constituents. All Americans must remember the words of James Madison, "..the House of Representatives can make no law which will not have its full operation on themselves and their friends, as well as on the great mass of the society...If this spirit shall ever be so far debased as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate anything but liberty." It seems that all in America has forgotten this and Mr. Beck in his own way is trying to remind the people. And the same issue of The Federalist #57 Mr. Madison wrote, "Who are to be the electors of the federal representatives? Not the rich, more than the poor; not the learned, more than the ignorant; not the haughty heirs of distinguished names, more than the humble sons of obscurity and unpropitious fortune. The electors are to be the great body of the people of the United States. They are to be the same who exercise the right in every State of electing the corresponding branch of the legislature of the State."

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.

Reviews

In the fascinating audiobook, author and political thinker Glenn Beck makes a passionate plea for Americans to return to the political thinking that served as the very foundation of the country. He shows how the philosophical framework of the county came under assault from the Progressives during the early years of the twentieth century, and how that attack has gained ground until we find ourselves in the early part of the twenty first century with the very nature of the government being overturned. But, more than just a complaint about how things are - it's a plea to get involved, to take a stand for democracy and the simple citizen, and to take back the government that by rights belongs to we the people! I must admit that I am not familiar with Glenn Beck. I have heard his name bandied about, but I have never watched his show. Well, perhaps I should tune it in! I found this audiobook to be well-thought out and well-reasoned, with his call to becoming more involved in the political process, while avoiding extra-legal action, being passionately pushed. Mr. Beck does his own reading, which is nice, and he does a good job of presenting his case. So, if you are interested in the fate of our country, and are looking for a thought-provoking diagnosis of where we are, how we got here, and where we need to go, then this is the audiobook for you. I highly recommend it.

In "Common Sense", Glenn Beck makes the arguments for why and how the US government is out of control and needs to be brought back under its constitutional limits. If you like his radio show, then you'll probably like this audio-book. He makes a good case for a revolution of ideas in Washington, though that likely won't be enough. He didn't make nearly the same compelling case as Thomas Paine did, but then again, our 'king' isn't sending troops into our cities and homes either. Though we are just as American as the Founders were, we are a different people now, by both choice and by circumstance. In the colonies, a spirit of independence and self-reliance ran deep at that time. You were responsible for clearing your own land, building your own home, growing your own food, and making your own way in the world. There was no government there to offer assistance -- if you wanted to do something, you usually had to do it yourself. And when you're almost entirely self-reliant, you naturally don't want some far-away, out-of-touch government demanding that you hand over your hard-earned property or money. If you're self-reliant, why SHOULD you have to give the government anything but the bare minimum to maintain a national defense? Beck also describes how for the past century, Progressivism has slowly eroded that spirit of independence and self-reliance. We individuals have relinquished more and more of our rights and responsibilities over to the State. Our current government is drenched in progressive, socialist-democratic principles which require an ever-increasing, young, vibrant population to fund the financial 'pyramid' base of the progressive tax-and-give system. But the reality is that our society is aging and declining, though not nearly as precipitously as Europe's and Russia's. Today, we want others to take care of us and advocate for us because it's easier and more expedient than to do it ourselves. It's easier to have taxes taken out of our paychecks for welfare than to care for the family down the street, and it's easier to ship our kids off to public/government schools everyday rather than teach them ourselves. When we need heat in the winter, we don't go and chop down a tree in the forest, we just press a button and then pay the gas-bill. But what exactly has Washington done for us that we couldn't do ourselves? The economy? Education? Welfare? What are these politicians and this bloated bureaucracy doing that the societies of our great-grandparents couldn't? And are they doing it better or worse? Why do we need some govt agency thousands of miles away taking our money, running it through their wasteful, massive bureaucracy, so our neighbors can collect a meager unemployment or food-stamps? Wouldn't it make more sense to cut out the govt and its millions of 'middle-men'? Today, it seems like many Americans have a spirit of apathy, comfort and dependence, though not nearly as much as before mid-2008. We likely won't put out the fire of extreme governance until we absolutely have to -- when it becomes intolerable. We won't act until we're suffering, and suffering terribly under hyper-inflation and choking over-regulation. We already put up with much more than the Founders ever would have imagined. Who says I can't cut down a tree on my own land that I planted and that I cared for? The Founders were steeped and rooted in Judeo-Christian values from their upbringing and the Great Awakening, and they were already used to being self-reliant. That was simply how they were raised, by necessity. Those Judeo-Christian values esteem personal freedom and self-regulation, so it was almost natural that they would want independence from an encroaching State. In our new progressive system, what values are taught other than to 'love thy State/government' and 'love thy planet'? What exactly are the moral values of Progressivism? It can't be 'thou shalt not steal' because that would violate their principles of the redistribution of wealth and their hatred of private property. And they can't say 'thou shalt not kill' because of population controls and abortion rights. And most certainly they can't say 'thou shalt honor God' because that would make Him, not the State, the Supreme Authority/Power in the land. Progressivism preaches and reinforces dependence on the State, and not God -- nor your neighbors and community. In our time and in our society, who exactly is teaching those Judeo-Christian values that laid the foundation of the country? The schools are not allowed to by the progressives, and the churches are quite empty compared to what they used to be. It seems as though the progressive media and education system denigrates common-sense religious values at every turn, or at least minimizes/ignores them. So where and when can Americans possibly re-learn the values of self-reliance and self-regulation? If we are to right the ship of the American Republic and prevent her from floundering on the rocks of Progressivism, then the only sensible place for those values to be propagated is from the home. And that takes patience, time, and the simple will to do so. My books: The Time of Jacob's Trouble, Endeavor in Time