“These are the times that try men’s souls.”
Thomas Paine
Wikipedia defines common sense as the basic ability to perceive, understand, and judge things, which is shared by nearly all people.
This definition assumes society has a foundation of education and character in order to perceive, understand and judge properly. It is becoming evident that as education becomes more about how to create mediocrity instead of inspiring excellence and personal character is lost in existentialism; that a basic foundation of education and character in society is becoming extinct. Without this foundation, we are easily swayed by the message of another.
Why are there so many political signs at the voting precinct? Obviously political candidates believe that people show up to vote with no idea of who they are voting for. Common sense tells you it is a wasted effort to place political signs outside a voting venue.
Harmony & Respect
Tolerance is the ability to respect and accept another’s position without forfeiting your own position. Religion should be an example of tolerance. A Christian can and should respect the position of a Muslim but does not convert nor vice versa. Both religions believe in a higher source that is the ultimate judge; why would either religion be concerned about judging the other when they already attest to a higher truer source for judgment? Common sense tells us that we should live in harmony and respect without violence and anger over who is right or wrong.
Every two to six years during elections, people become intolerable. Why? Just listen to the rhetoric of politicians – it is all about BLAME, and it affects those who pay attention. Facebook proved this in a test by randomly selecting a group of constituents and posting only negative comments to their wall. Interestingly, these people began to post negative comments also. Then they began to allow only positive posts to the walls of these people and the same people began to post positive information. People lacking a foundation of character are swayed by the environmental conditions to which they are exposed. Common sense tells you that we should control our own attitudes.
The entire political process has become a career choice to receive benefits that you cannot receive in society and say whatever you have to in order to receive a person’s vote vs. what is right. Common sense tells you that both Democrats and Republicans have positions that are correct. They also have positions that are wrong. Cooperation is not about who is right, only what is right.
Cooked Frog Era
History depicts times and gives those eras names to remind us of the conditions during that period: revolution, industrial, technology era etc. This period of history will be known as the “Cooked Frog” era. We are like the frog that is placed in cool water. But if the temperature is turned up one degree per hour, the frog will cook to death instead of getting out of the water.
As you read in this article from 1776 you can begin to realize how hot the water is and get out of it. The difference between the men of 1776 and today; they were willing to fight for “common sense.” Today because of political correctness, wokeness and fear, nobody stands for anything anymore.
Published in 1776 by Thomas Paine on the British Government titled “Common Sense”:
“SOME writers have so confounded society with government, as to leave little or no distinction between them; whereas they are not only different, but have different origins. Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher. Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one:…”
Read the entire article at
http://www.ushistory.org/paine/commonsense/sense1.htm
A society that doesn’t embrace its true history in its entirety so that it can learn from its mistakes is doomed to repeat them.
