I recorded this song 2 years ago over a wikiloop drum track with my Guitar and Bass along with excerpts of a narration by Bob Neufeld from a Librivox recording of Thomas Paines’s Common Sense. The writing behind Paine’s Common Sense was instrumental in lighting the spark behind the American Revolution. It is my belief these excerpts speak to the potential of a truly democratic society of which communication technology should serve. A potential wavering as technology continues to serve the interests of government and business more than the people represented.
The Mission of The Emergence is to uncover innovations and ideas around communication technologies to better serve this potential. I see this interpretation of Thomas Paine’s words as a means to remind technologists, politicians, and technology users of the importance of the democratic values of liberty, equality, and justice.
The entire Librivox recording with Bob Neufeld’s narration of Common Sense can be found here.
http://librivox.org/common-sense-by-thomas-paine-2/
Drum tracks provided by
http://www.wikiloops.com/backingtrack-jam-631.php
Bass loaned to me by Michael Shadel. Thanks Michael. You are a true friend!
Excerpts
“Common Sense by Thomas Paine”
“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages are not yet sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor.”
“As a long and violent abuse of power is generally the means of calling the right of it in question.”
“The cause of America, is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.”
“And through which, the principals of all lovers of mankind are affected.”
“Philadelphia, February 14th, 1776.”
“Some writers have so confounded society with government as to leave little or no distinction between them.”
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of customs.”
“And this remissness will point out the necessity of establishing some form of government to supply the defect of moral virtue.”
Common Sense by Thomas Paine