Go, read it now
I can't recall the last time I found a piece of nonfiction this compelling. I've been reading The Death of Common Sense by Philip K Howard.
Have you ever come across something that suddenly made a bunch of stuff make sense that was simply refusing to make sense previously? This book is doing that for me. Why the Tea Party is so angry, what they are right about as well as what's incomplete about their approach. Where zero tolerance policies came from. Why it seems government can't get anything done, no matter how hard it tries. Why the rest of us seem to be heading that way too. It all suddenly makes a lot more sense. It's still insane, but you can see the method to the madness.
On average, there's a line on every page that I'd consider a quotable piece of wisdom. I keep finding myself thinking "Yes!" or "Of course that's why!" or other phrases of violent agreement.
He goes into the legal history of how we got here, too. Context makes such a difference. He cites the critical legislation where Congress set us up for a big bowl of unintended consequences. He picks up the case law where the Supremes took our bowl back to the buffet for another helping.
So, um, yeah. Go read it.
Or, if you're too lazy to find the book (I have Cornell Library's copy right now. You can't have it yet), you can watch his TED talk.
Have you ever come across something that suddenly made a bunch of stuff make sense that was simply refusing to make sense previously? This book is doing that for me. Why the Tea Party is so angry, what they are right about as well as what's incomplete about their approach. Where zero tolerance policies came from. Why it seems government can't get anything done, no matter how hard it tries. Why the rest of us seem to be heading that way too. It all suddenly makes a lot more sense. It's still insane, but you can see the method to the madness.
On average, there's a line on every page that I'd consider a quotable piece of wisdom. I keep finding myself thinking "Yes!" or "Of course that's why!" or other phrases of violent agreement.
He goes into the legal history of how we got here, too. Context makes such a difference. He cites the critical legislation where Congress set us up for a big bowl of unintended consequences. He picks up the case law where the Supremes took our bowl back to the buffet for another helping.
So, um, yeah. Go read it.
Or, if you're too lazy to find the book (I have Cornell Library's copy right now. You can't have it yet), you can watch his TED talk.