26 November, 2022 by Eric Dunkelberger
When I was young and acting impetuously, my parents would scold me by saying, ” Use your common sense”. Back then, when something came up on the spur of the moment, there was maybe a 50%-50% chance of me actually stopping and thinking before I acted. By that, I mean that thinking kept me from getting into bad situations half of the time. I like to think that I’ve improved on that percentage as I got older, but, sometimes, it’s still a struggle.
Looking back, I’m pretty sure common sense was introduced to me by my parents. Mom was a stay at home mom, so, early in our formative years, she was usually fairly close and knew what I was doing. Another phrase I heard a lot was, “Think about what you’re doing”. The two phrases were fairly interchangeable. Ignoring those two phrases never really worked out for me.
Recently, I’ve been wondering where common sense has gone. Looking around, I can’t see it being employed very often. Then it occurred to me; who’s around our kids to introduce common sense? I grew up in the 50 and 60’s, with an economy in which you could live on one income. Things changed in the 70’s with the double-digit inflation that wreaked havoc on the economy. Both parents had to go to work to be able to live comfortable. The economy ebbs and flows. There are good times and bad times. The question remains; who teaches the kids to use common sense?
We send our children to schools for their education. We quickly (hopefully) discover that schools are more into indoctrination. We want our children to succeed. The schools are more into equity. Critical thought has given way to critical race theory. The pathway to excellence is effectively obstructed. They don’t want anyone to be successful, because they aren’t followers. They are trailblazers! Trailblazers cause problems in a Progressive (Socialist) environment.
Where does common sense come from? I believe it comes from the parents or other family members. Barring that, it comes from mentors. You won’t get it from government facilities, whether federal, state or local. However you get it, it’s necessary for survival. You need it to get ahead. The problem is, common sense isn’t all that common anymore.
marjarhead1 