Common Sense Part 1

So I just picked up a copy of Glenn Beck's new book entitled "Common Sense" and had barely opened the book when I thought of a couple things that I believe are common sense. Please read through these thoughts and let me know what you think. I am no where near perfect and am more than willing to listen and grow. Fill me in with your common sense. Only when we band together, get rid of our differences, and look at the issues that matter will we begin to repair our hearts and this land known as America.

First, I want to define what a home is. That word is overused today and to help America begin to change its course to one we will all find acceptable, it must not be overused, but correctly used.

A house is built. A land is given a name. A country is known. But is it home? On July 4, 1776, certain men stood up for the human rights of many here on this side of the globe. At that point, every person living in the then British colonies effectively signed their death sentences when they decided to either stay here in America or stand and fight alongside their countrymen. For the from then on, this land became home to those men and women. To those people who decided to fight for what was theirs, America became home. Then, during the civil war, it once again became even more of a home for nearly every American. Why at these points in history do I believe it was truly a home? Because people did not sit idly by while what they believed in was taken from them! I do not believe it takes violence to show your heart, but in today's America, countless American citizens are sitting idly by as income taxes increase (which by the way were banned in the original Constitution. The 16th amendment changed that), as corrupt politicians take away our freedoms in the name of security, in the name of "Global Warming" (which I believe to be a hoax but that is a total separate issue), and while countless American generations are crippled by reckless spending of money this nation does not have! Since the Obama administration took office, the national debt has increase more than in the 8 years President Bush was in office! I am by no means saying Bush was the greatest ever and by no means saying Obama is the worst ever. There is more to the puzzle than party politics (which I fear George Washington may have been right about after all when he said they would be the death of America) and finances. Politicians on both sides of the line are rapidly trying to fix the mess they created and guess what? Instead of taking time and trying to find a good, worthwhile solution, they argue over two wrong solutions then vote based on which one they think will get them re-elected. We can no longer sit idly by and let these corrupt acts take away our freedoms, our liberties, and our hard earned money! For now, this land called America is simply a place where 300 million people live. Some call it home. they serve in our armed forces, they stand up for what they believe in by going to tea parties, calling their local representatives, and ultimately continue to try to change this country for the better. This should be true for every American because until it is, this nation will be sucked dry of all its resources, all its promises, and all its strength by politicians in the name of national security and financial stability (which, just in my humble opinion, I believe we have less of now than ever before in the history of our nation).

Second is our education system. I am in full support of our educators and what they are trying to do, but I do not trust the legislatures above them that force them to teach certain things a certain way. Why are middle schoolers using high end calculators to graph simple equations and multiply and divide simple numbers? There was a day, when more breakthroughs came than have come through modern education, when even the best inventors hadn't dreamed of calculators. There was a time when evolution was just a theory, unlike now when the Texas Attorney General has called it scientific fact, there was a time when creation was taught in schools, which if you don't believe only creation should be taught then why not teach both evolution and creation and let the students decide for themselves which is true? For now, children in America are not as smart as they could be due to contracts with TI that force graphing calculators into nearly every classroom in the nation! They are being given freedom FROM religion rather than what the founding fathers promised them in freedom OF religion.The teachers are not the problem. They are simply doing what they are being told to do. Legislatures need to be held to a higher standard and should also be held to the constitution.

Third is taxes which I touched on earlier. In the original constitution, federal income taxes were banned. As government grew bigger, their heads got bigger as well. The result was the 16th Amendment. Why should we have to pay for a government that should be for the people by the people? And what is the solution? The answers in my opinion are simple. We shouldn't have taxes period and the solution is just as simple: we should have a much smaller government than we have today. Benjamin Franklin was asked once what type of government the founding fathers had given to America's citizens. He answered, "A republic, if you can keep it." To this day we have not kept it. And unless we act soon, we will never get it back.

And for now, the last item on my list is the size of the government. Since the civil war it has grown immensely but the biggest growth and most damaging change has been since the Great Depression. Our government has only grown bigger, given itself more power over private enterprise, and all with the support of the American people. And the why is actually much simpler than what some claim. Economic security. We all want it and we think we can trust our elected officials to give it to us. What most people don't realize is that the best way to financial freedom and security is through smaller government. Less taxes means we have more money in our pockets to spend. Which also means less dependence on credit. Only private businesses can give the American people what they want out of the economy and since the great depression our government has been restricting that private business to the point where now it owns General Motors. This is an outrage and it must be stopped and the only way to stop it is to downsize the government and take back private enterprise.

Thank you for reading these pieces of what I find to be common sense. Please comment, contribute, share, argue, debate, point new things out, and don't stop. More notes like this are soon to come and the more feedback I get the better. I am by no means perfect and these thoughts can change. It is a change that we must all believe in or we will soon no longer have the republic given to us by our founding fathers.