Paul Harrington, The Commonsense Rules
About the Author
If you’re looking at this page you must possess at least a passing interest in my ideas, and for that I am grateful. In this day and age, it is extremely difficult to cut through the clutter and make your voice heard. The Commonsense Rules, along with my blog posts and other commentary on public policy and current issues, are my efforts to do just that. They are intended to help raise the level of debate in America, consistent with the severity of the problems we face.
I am not an economist, nor a politician, nor a recognized expert in government or Constitutional law. I am a concerned citizen like millions of others who have grave doubts about the future of America. Unlike many others, I have had the unique opportunity to study the important issues in depth. In 2006, I undertook to write a book about public policy and the role of government in the 21st century. Never did I imagine that it would consume seven years of my life (so far) or that I would end up proposing an entirely new constitution as the only way to save the nation from impending disaster.
Growing up in Boston’s working class neighborhood of Dorchester taught me some lessons that can’t be learned from books—including the importance of hard work, honesty, and humility. I discovered that it’s ok to keep asking why (and why not), and that common sense is often more important than educational degrees. For six decades now, it seems as though I’ve been asking more and more questions while receiving fewer and fewer good answers. And when it comes to politics and economics, the search for answers has been especially frustrated.
In my formative years, I received a solid primary education from the nuns of St. Brendan’s, and some secondary learning from the Jesuits at B.C. High, both local reputable Catholic schools. My appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy began a short-lived military career. After enduring the travails of plebe year at Annapolis, I wisely decided during second year that my penchant for questioning everything was somewhat inconsistent with military discipline. I attended Tufts University for a year before concluding that engineering might not be my calling either. I settled on a Political Science degree from Boston College (1975). Three years later I graduated from law school at Suffolk University in Boston (1978).
After passing the Massachusetts Bar I hung out my shingle in late ’78. That began 14 years of private law practice, during which I learned what it was like to manage a small, growing business. In the early eighties I tested the political waters as a candidate for public office (state representative) and as a member of the local Ward Committee (Boston’s Ward 16). Although my political involvement was limited to a few frustrating years of trying to make a difference, the experience taught me firsthand the futility of idealism within the existing system. I was left with more questions than answers about how to change things.
At the beginning of 1992, I moved on from the full time practice of law to join a client company that was raising capital to expand. As General Counsel to the DeWolfe Companies, Inc., my first role was to coordinate an initial public offering (IPO) of stock in this small real estate services firm. That was the start of a ten year growth spurt that transformed the firm into one of the most successful public companies in New England. During that time, I served as president of the mortgage subsidiary, and then of the real estate company, and subsequently as the president and chief operating officer of the entire organization. At the end of 2002, when the company was acquired by a larger national conglomerate, I chose to leave and spend more time with family while exploring other options.
For several years after my self-imposed sabbatical from the business world, my time was occupied with various projects such as travelling, sailing, stock trading, property renovation, writing (a novel still unpublished), and other interim callings. I also read extensively about the philosophical underpinnings of government, the history of American public policy, and economic theory. I became rather obsessed with discovering why our democracy, our government(s), and our economy did not appear to be working as well as they should. By mid-2006 the obsession turned into a full-fledged commitment to find the answers. More than seven years later that quest ended up in the publication of The Commonsense Rules.
I fervently believe in the urgency of our situation, as described in my book, as well as the efficacy of my transformative proposals. I have attempted to apply my experiences, skills, and knowledge of the law, business, finance, economics, and political theory to uncover answers that also meet the test of common sense. It is now up to interested and informed readers to decide if I have succeeded.
