Common Sense

The objective of our government should be to safeguard its people and to guarantee the protection of what we have deemed "unalienable" rights. The success or failure of said government ought to be determined by how well it actually fulfills this responsibility. Government only exists because we allow it to exist. One person understood this. One person believed that the people of a democracy have the ultimate say in how they themselves are governed. This person was Thomas Paine.

Out of pure curiosity I decided to read Thomas Paine's Common Sense. Never would I have imagined that a piece of literature as antiquated as this would have any bearing whatsoever on today's society. I could not have been more wrong. The ideas put forth in Common Sense are as relevant today as it was when first published in 1776. I was amazed that almost everything he said in the 18th century could be applied to today's government and that many, if not most, of the problems plaguing our forefathers are still plaguing us in the here and now.

What really struck me was his idea that because we as a democracy created the government ruling over us that we are solely responsible for the wretched state in which we now find ourselves. When we as a country look to blame someone for what has become of us we need look no further than our very own noses. The only people who can take away the power of the governing parties are the people that gave them power in the first place. Furthermore, it's worth as a book goes far beyond just it's educational value. It possesses a priceless historical look back from an outsiders view on our country as it was forming itself into a democracy; a democracy unrivaled by any other in the world.

It impressed me with not only its historical and educational significance but with the fact that if we look hard we can find so much more than a mere history lesson, we can find a life lesson. We gave power to a government to protect our best interests but I feel as though our best interests sometimes come second to the personal interests of our elected officials. We've created a kind of bureaucratic Frankenstein and we need to give the power back to the people. Upon taking the oath of office every president should be presented with a copy of Thomas Paine's Common Sense just to remind him that we have hired him to do a job and like any other job if his performance is