“Common Sense” is a book that attempts to bring some rationality to our increasingly complex world. We appear to have reached a critical mass, where we look to be divided again along tribal lines we began with tribes and established a powerful united multicultural society from there. The elimination of traditional, tried-and-true behavioral conventions, as well as a lack of common sense, are both contributing factors to this fragmentation. Politics, education, the environment, and sex are all utilized to highlight the vast gap between practice and common sense. We still have time to correct our great nation’s direction, but if we fail, the world’s lighthouse, as we know it, will be lost.
Claus Windelev paints a vivid picture of the issues the country currently faces. He’s talking about how the United States’ institutionalized inequality has reached epic proportions, the power of money in politics, the lack of proper decorum in public discourse, how low salaries fuel the company’s bottom line while costs are passed on to taxpayers, and how governing has become “an endangered art.” Where are the politicians who have beliefs and the courage to follow through on them? These men of principle are even more needed in today’s fast-paced world of technological advancements, environmental concerns, human displacements, and ethical dilemmas — all of which are rushing at you at near-light speed.
It is a must-read book for everyone who thinks about the future of the Land of the Free.