It is with great sorrow that I pass along this report of the slow, agonizing death of a dear friend. I received it a while ago in my e-mail and today, I finally decided to spread the word. Many of you may have already heard of this, or suspected it was happening. I count myself as one of the lucky ones to have known him for all these years. He will be missed but probably never fully replaced.
'Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral, because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.'
It really is a shame that "common sense" is so uncommon. It seems to get rarer and rarer with every passing year. I wonder if it's just here in America, or is this a worldwide epidemic?
20 comments:
I think its worldwide, look at how excited Europe was during Obama's visit, those people cannot have common sense either.
As a matter of fact, I believe we have imported some of the stuff from Europe that is killing America's spirit as well as common sense.
Uh-huh.
I think it started to die during the Viet Nam war and became terminal about the time I came back. And that group who started the death are now running the Government and in particular the Dumoldcraps. Yes we will all remember and morn him for sure
AA, You have put into words what I have been saying for many years. It started with the deteriation or the extended family Nuclear family, single parent familyand continues through to the civil unions. Family values as we knew it are gone or sorely lacking. When I started working for Health and Human Services and they, the powers that be, spouted that welfare payments were an entitlement, it started me to thinking, especially since they the client was gettig more money in their tax free entitlement than I was working there. The beat continues today and is multigenerational. We have a problem so lets throw some money at it. That'll work....Crap.....Government is so involved with the family and socialism has crept into our lives on a continual basis and people are eating it up. Nothing is free people wake up. Redistribution of wealth doesn't work people..... You are right on target with the common sense thing....Parenting has been delegated to the teachers and Parents are not brought into decisions that effect their childrens' lives. One can blame the courts and the government for that. They both have deluted your rights as citizens for years and will continue to do so with decisions coming forth from the Supreme Court that allows the state to take your land for "the common good". Sounds like somthing I have been fighting for years.....I ramble....stay well...
Beth:
I think you're right. It does seem to be world wide. If I had to pick one reason, I guess I would point to the "dummy down" effect of liberalism. That, we know, is global. The more your government does for you, the less you have to do for yourself. Eventually, you forget how to do for yourself.
Thanks for agreeing with me Brooke.
Old Soldier:
Thanks for stopping by fellow Vietnam vet! I agree, that is about the time Common Sense first started showing symptoms. Can't quite point a finger to the exact cause, but the main culprit has to be liberalism.
Tapline:
You just highlighted at least half the problems. It's the "dummy down" effect at work. I should have expanded my post to include Common Sense's twin brother RESPECT. Respect died before Common Sense did. His downward spiral started with respect for authority, followed by respect for religion, respect for elders, respect for the flag, respect for the feelings of others, and respect for nature, just to name a few. Can it be any wonder that when one loses respect for all of this, the next step is automatically respect for one's self. When one doesn't respect themselves, then all respect is gone. His should have been a huge funeral, but alas, it was hardly even noticed.
Joe
It's an oldie, but still a goodie and also true, unfortunately. He will make a come back though, we'll have to embrace him, because the consequences will be too painful otherwise.
Joe said: "Common sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn)"
Then along came the credit card and even Z-man was sucked in. Now I just use cash for everything and am much happier. Credit cards are good if your car breaks down on vacation or to rent a hotel room but to buy a double-quarter pounder with cheese or a tube of toothpaste and a soda at your supermart?
"Common sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses."
I most often think of NY's Edward Cardinal Egan as an administrator first before being a shepherd like his predecessor was, more concerned is he with the bottom line and closing down slow parishes rather than bow to local religious nostalgia, what's that?
I hope your right MK. A little common sense might even help save humanity from itself. One can hope anyway.
I know just what you mean Z-Man. I have one credit card which I use when absolutely necessary and almost always pay it off as soon as the bill comes in. My home town had 4 catholic churches 10 years ago, today we have 1 left. There may be a few less church goers now, but I'm sure there are more than 25% of what we used to have.
Thumbs Up
he smiles, very nicely put, my friend. very well put.
Beth and I were talking about this obituary for Common Sense. It's in quotes but not attributed to anybody. I had the sense you wrote it and she felt it came from somewhere else but either way it's rated Genius in my book.
so what year would you say this old friend die? 1960?
so sad.........makes me feel awful!
beth..Mr. Z is from Europe and keeps asking me why Europe's finally getting it (too late, probably) and America's trying to emulate Europe's mistakes..? I have no answer.
Except .. DEMOCRATS
Thanks for coming by DD2 and Griper. Glad you enjoyed yourselves while here. Z-Man, the quoted parts came from an old email while the first and last paragraphs were mine. I'm not sure why, but I have saved a lot of stuff from emails over the years. Every once in a while I go through them and can't believe how profound some of them are. I don't know for sure Z, but I'd have to say that Common Sense got very sick during the late 60's, about the time the media turned so liberal and antiwar. Look at Kent State. Did those kids really think they could attack the National Guard and not get hurt or worse? Didn't the young generation back then even flirt with the possibility that all those drugs might screw them up? I think the average college student back then spent at least 6 years in school, trying to get out of the draft. It seems the more they learned, the dumber they got. I had a cousin who, after 7 years of college, spoke with such a weird vocabulary, that I couldn't even understand him. This was a guy I hung around with all the time in high school. Back then I called it "dummy down." Today, the term is "stuck on stupid."
each time I read it ..it gets better!
Amen to this post Average Guy.
And keep em comming
Thanks for the visit Joe, Come on buddy,how about some new blogs?
You have a super blog her my friend, I just found it by liking over from another great blog, the good ones out out here we just have to look for them
Great work
WHT,Redneck, DD2, Saint, Thank you guys for stopping by. Are you all trying to make me blush with the praise, it worked.
Between working and the drive to and from, I've been putting in 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. Managed to get extremely tired and REAL sick. I finally am done the job and somewhat recuperated enough to function normally. Hopefully, now I can get back to what I like best, conversing here and at your blogs. Saint, I'm on my way to visit you as soon as I leave here.
Joe
AA,
I think it is worldwide. Common sense tells us that when we fight wars we try to win. We lost that about the middle of the 60s. Unfortunately, the military is the recipient of that thinking. The feeling that everyone is equal, that self-esteem is paramount, and that no one is wrong is what your post is all about. Nice job, my brother.
Thanks for dropping by L&OT. It really is sad, isn't it. Common sense is so much more important than book smarts but very few realize this anymore.
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