I’ve said it before: I like free stuff. I especially like Wikipedia.

The online encyclopedia was designed to let just about anyone write and edit its articles. Working on similar principles to the Linux operating system for computers, Wikipedia is written and edited by thousands upon thousands of volunteers around the world.

Too much time on their hands? Well, their interest and dedication certainly has helped me, for I’ve gotten a lot of use out of Wikipedia. Its articles are often far more exhaustive and informative than the Encyclopedia Britannica’s.

I’ve talked in the past about Wikipedia’s vulnerability to attack. Recently, an academic writer put Wikipedia to the test by attacking its integrity.

Not with argument, but by adding errors into several obscure parts of the encyclopedia. He expected the errors to languish for days and weeks and maybe even months, before anyone would notice exactly what he had deliberately snuck into the resource.

Boy, did Wikipedia’s volunteers prove him wrong! Within three hours, they eradicated each one of his errors . . . and even excoriated him for inventing stuff!

This got me thinking. Government’s supposed to be a citizen-involved, self-correcting system. But modern politics doesn’t work fast, or well.

Wouldn’t it be neat if America would run as well as Wikipedia? Wouldn’t it be great if we citizens could more quickly fix the country every time the government screws up, or malign people corrupt the system?

Think outside the box, people!

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Apparently, a lot of people want to kill Wal-Mart quickly . . . since Wal-Mart management won’t let unions kill off the firm slowly. I’m not one of these people, even though Wal-Mart has done stuff I’ve quarreled with. But failing to give workers enough benefits to please unions and politicians isn’t one of them. Wal-Mart employees enjoy a relatively good deal, or they’d seek work elsewhere. The store also helps both their employees and the rest of us stretch our dollars. And find stuff. They’ve got lots of stock. Which, indeed, makes the store convenient even for the likes of Wal-Mart-basher Senator John Edwards, former candidate for the Vice Presidency. Seems a staffer working for Edwards asked a Wal-Mart rep if he could jump the line for the much-in-demand new PlayStation 3. He knew his boss wanted one. So he pointedly dropped the senator’s name to try to get this favor.

Instead of turning over the toy, Wal-Mart issued a press release. The folks at Wal-Mart enjoyed the spectacle of Edwards’s own adjutant seeking the company’s favoritism, even while Edwards himself attended news conferences raking the company through the coals.

Edwards says he “feels terrible.” The Senator, poor dear, had no idea somebody in his office might go so far as to buy something from Wal-Mart.

Apparently, the terms of employment in Edwards office are to continually put the politicians’ own grandstanding politics ahead of saving money.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.