Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(776)
4 star:		(87)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(27)
1 star:		(243)

 

 

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

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 (I love you man... in a strictly plutonic way of course...) is here, unflatteringly describing Thomas Paine as though he were a righ wing republican instead of what he is: A Libertarian... Common Glenn, you can do better than that!

Glenn Beck's book is very well written, and makes a lot of sense. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about U.S. history and also for those who want to get a clear view of how our government is growing out of control. This is not a conservative or liberal book, rather it is a book based on values and equal time of criticism is granted to both sides of the aisle. A must read!!

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.

I find it interesting that Glenn Beck uses Thomas Paine as a hero for his book considering Paine would reject nearly everything Beck stands for.

After all, Paine rejected Christianity:

"I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church."

"All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit."

He also wrote An Essay on the Origin of Free-Masonry (1803-1805), about the Bible being allegorical myth describing astrology:

"The Christian religion is a parody on the worship of the sun, in which they put a man called Christ in the place of the sun, and pay him the adoration originally payed to the sun."

Paine argues against private property, saying that it should be equally distributed or reimbursed:

"In advocating the case of the persons thus dispossessed, it is a right, and not a charity . . . [Government must] create a national fund, out of which there shall be paid to every person, when arrived at the age of twenty-one years, the sum of fifteen pounds sterling, as a compensation in part, for the loss of his or her natural inheritance, by the introduction of the system of landed property. And also, the sum of ten pounds per annum, during life, to every person now living, of the age of fifty years, and to all others as they shall arrive at that age."

And Beck would consider Paine a Marxist today because he believed in disintegrating property rights and giving assets equally to all. He was against inheritance and thought that it created a society of perpetual inequality.

It seems ironic to me that Beck would name his book after (and include a copy of a work) a person who he would consider an anti-Christian, Marxist, Socialist. I think that perhaps he should do a little research before he champions someone that would be against everything he pushes.

Common Sense is one of those shaping books of American letters. Written by a British emigrant with neither an education nor much reading, it became nearly an instant bestseller and remains one of the fundamental documents of our history, the book that defined and directed the American Revolution. How did Paine do it?

First and foremost, he wrote simply and without elegance. He was, like Benjamin Franklin, a self-educated polymath, the ideal of the Rationalist philosophers in that his ability to think, not experience of other thinkers, set his limits. Secondly, he was an honest, earnest advocate of democracy -- a political ideal clear and sharp in his mind as a stone in the hand. He wasn't paid for his ideals; in fact, he was hated in his last years for the integrity of them and he died a pauper.

What does this have to do with Glenn Beck? Good question. Saying this book was inspired by Thomas Paine is like saying Lady Gaga was inspired by Tosca: even if it were true, what possible difference would it make?

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.

This book brings home the fact that the voters more than anything have let our country down by who we have elected to serve us.

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.