Why in America Common Sense Isn’t So Common: Simple Fixes for America’s Absurdities examines many everyday issues Americans face. The book covers several topics:
Criminal Justice
The book explores plea deals, government indictments, non-violent offenders, and long sentences. It critiques the system where accused individuals can’t speak freely in their defense while accusers can. It questions public announcements of indictments and plea deals, advocating for restorative justice, fair trials, and reduced prosecutorial bias. The book examines prison culture, over-criminalization, mandatory minimum sentences, decriminalizing poverty, and prioritizing victims’ perspectives over the government’s.
Punitive Finance
The book questions the federal government’s role in student loans. It explores how easy student loans drive up university fees and why college tuition isn’t tied to graduates’ median salaries. The book highlights excessive costs of car towing, hospital parking, and ambulance bills, calling for medical debt exclusion from collection and credit reporting.
Taxes
The book questions whether eliminating the 501(c)(3) loophole would solve many of the world’s problems by ending dark money. It also questions why sales tax is levied on used products.
Election
The book critiques illogical district maps. It explores whether it’s truly difficult to obtain ID cards. It discusses non-citizens’ influence on redistricting and the impact of out-of-state donations on elections.
Affordable Life
The discussion on affordable living highlights high costs of city transportation, banking fees, housing policies, and childcare. It advocates for free city transportation, reducing banking fees, promoting healthy eating through SNAP benefits, and tying home prices to wage growth rates. It supports free childcare, prioritizing families with kids and expecting mothers in parking, transforming schools into one-stop places for parents and children, and allowing parents to choose their kids’ schools. It questions high security deposits and healthcare costs.
Immigration
Immigration policies are scrutinized, with suggestions for easing visa processes and addressing fraud. The book questions birthright citizenship, the relevance of H1B visas in remote work, and argues for making non-immigrant visas easier to obtain. It also compares fraud in marriage-based versus employment-based petitions.
Daily Nonsense
Daily nuisances, such as traffic management and customer service, are explored. The book questions why lanes are closed for minor accidents, the complexity of furniture assembly, and climate change advocates who don’t clean streets.
Excessive Regulations
The book questions excessive regulations on small businesses, the need for many licenses, and the annual franchise tax, arguing for reducing regulatory burdens to promote entrepreneurship and economic growth.
Social Issues
Finally, the book addresses affirmative action, reparations, flag burning, and government money printing. It questions if affirmative action benefits its intended groups, explores the feasibility of one-time reparations, discusses flag burning acceptability, and critiques unlimited money printing.
Why in America Common Sense Isn’t So Common challenges readers to rethink current systems and consider practical, effective reforms. The analysis and recommendations make a compelling case for common-sense solutions to America’s absurdities, making this book essential reading for anyone interested in creating a more just society.
