I actually don't think I disagree with you in principle. I had the chance to talk shop with Kent Beck, and honestly, I don't think he would either.

Honestly, I can sum it up pretty succinctly:

"Use some common fucking sense"

I don't think you should HAVE to read that. But, I'm routinely disappointed.

So, I love the Agile Manifesto, because instead of saying "Use your fucking head" to my managers who claim to be agile, I can much more diplomatically say "What does the agile manifesto say about that?"