About the Book
He’s back — witty, insightful, concerned, and hopeful. He slaps you on the face, then he pats you on the back.
Federal and personal debts are ballooning, while partisan bickering and the powers of special interests make it nearly impossible for our leaders to lead. Our long-term interests are being sold off for short-term gains, our tax code is Byzantine, and the personal affairs of those we place in power have turned the media into a spectacle. Now Benjamin Franklin — the man who brought us bifocals — helps us see our nation today with his characteristic clarity, insight, and amusement.
Feeling that Franklin would see our times as particularly perilous, Tom Blair has picked up the pen Ben Franklin set aside in 1758 to give us a fresh take on the enduringly popular Poor Richard’s Almanack: POORER RICHARD’S AMERICA: What Would Ben Say? (Skyhorse Publishing; August 30, 2010; $17.76; Hardcover). Tom Brokaw has contributed the foreword.
Often humorous, sometimes controversial, always astute, Blair delivers — without a partisan agenda — the pointed perspectives and unique present-day perceptions we might anticipate from Franklin himself on a wide variety of pressing political, cultural and social issues. In POORER RICHARD’S AMERICA, speaking as perhaps the most colorful and inventive of our Founding Fathers, Blair brings Franklin’s thoughtful assessments on such issues as the national deficit, prejudice, Wall Street malfeasance, the influence of lobbyists, health care reform, lust and infidelity, blogging, the state of our two-party system, China’s economic growth, flag burning, education, armor-piercing ammo, the moment of conception, and the secrets of marital bliss and a good night’s sleep, among many other topics.
Sprinkled throughout his engaging and timely commentary are Franklin’s clever aphorisms both old and new.
“It is the easiest thing in the world for a Man to deceive himself.”
– Poor Richard’s, April 1746
“So it be for a Nation.”
- Poorer Richard’s America, September 2010
And “Franklin” has some direct and incisive questions aimed at his contemporary countrymen:
- Does the fire of freedom still burn in the American belly?
- Why do we cling tight to the Great Federal Breast, allowing ourselves to be crippled by a sea of debt?
- Which Americans are most important: the well educated or the well worked?
After 20 years of practicing statesmanship and 200 years of observing the same, he sets forth a few suggested rules and mischievous notions for conducting America’s international affairs, including emulating Michelle Obama and Teddy Roosevelt.
Making the point that our forefathers conceived the service of Senators and Congressmen as a calling, not the career in political fundraising it has become, Blair boldly calls for a 28th Constitutional Amendment that would provide for 100% public funding of elections and put corporate lobbyists out of business. Considering that two years is a short time for a Representative to become a fully productive patriot, he proposes extending the term to three years as practical and more consistent with the Senator’s term of six years. In Franklin’s stead, Blair also suggests revisions to our tax code.
As a man who helped birth our nation, Franklin is tickled by some of our endeavors yet troubled to see matters that jeopardize our stability. Taking a page from the past and looking to our near-term future, he praises what is right with America and reminds us of where we came from to clear our vision and humbly direct our course. We may agree or heatedly disagree with these “fundamental truths of life’s commerce and life’s passions.” In either case, we are sure to be enlightened and entertained by Tom Blair and POORER RICHARD’S AMERICA.
POORER RICHARD’S AMERICA:
What Would Ben Say?
By Tom Blair
Foreword by Tom Brokaw
Skyhorse Publishing | August 30, 2010 | $17.76 | Hardcover
A Great American Book at a Great American Price: $17.76
