A Little Common Sense
I am taking a momentary break from The Iliad to knock a short book off my bucket list.
I’m reading “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine and I’m lovin’ it. It is very timely also since the midterm elections are happening in a few weeks. I went into this book not knowing much of anything about it. I am now about half way through and it is giving me an interesting glimpse of the early days of our country. There was once a time when the biggest political issue was the fact that we were ruled by a King from an island across an ocean. Now we have politicians spending millions of dollars to attack other politicians over phony statistics and exacerbated facts. $100 million spent on a campaign platform of “bringing back American jobs” would do a better job of putting people back to work if it was just handed to a couple thousand citizens.
The complex political issues of today don’t really compare to 225 years ago, but atleast back then the majority of the American “politicians” were able to focus on a common goal. John Stewart’s “March for Sanity” may be a few steps in the right direction. I think American politics may need a little common sense.
