Sense and Sensibility
It’s almost incredible that I sense the need to talk about sense – common sense. Have some things have gotten so far out of whack that I, or anyone else, need to make a case for what makes sense and what doesn’t? It would seem so.
Let’s start: common sense. What is it?
Just for example let’s take the ordinary chicken egg. Everyone recognizes it, it has a yolk, we know what happens when it’s dropped on the floor and the effects of hard boiling it.
Common sense is the ability to apply common knowledge to the things we observe around us. That knowledge is available to all humans. Most everyone knows the common knowledge about an egg. Knowing about an egg doesn’t take a high IQ, a high GPA or advanced degree. We just know, based on experience, what an egg looks like and what happens when you do different things with it.
So, common sense can be applied to many things that we observe and experience. We know what happens when we touch a hot stove burner, eat or drink too much (or not enough), try to pick up a heavy object with our backs instead of our legs, enter an elevator before others have exited, hitting our thumb with a hammer, looking both ways before crossing the street, or getting into a stranger’s car.
We all also know the difference between males and females. I won’t go into the genitals, hormones, and facial hair, etc., but we know that to create another human being it takes a male and a female and what each provides to make offspring happen. We know it works that way for just about every living organism, excepting a few asexual things like tapeworms and aphids.
So, when somebody says men can get pregnant – most of us think that’s stupid. It doesn’t make any sense, meaning common sense. Not so long ago we wouldn’t even be talking about it or feeling the need to “take a side” on male pregnancy.
This is what an infusion of political correctness – “woke” – has given us.
In order to be politically correct, we’re supposed to agree that a born male can compete with females in athletic activities. We’re supposed to accept that a male can be nominated for the NCAA “Woman of the Year.” Why would we even consider the proposition? We wouldn’t because it doesn’t make any sense.
Does it make any sense to sterilize/castrate minors?
Does it make any sense for government to spend gobs more and more money when the public is suffering from inflation?
Does it make any sense to defund the police?
Does it make any sense to release repeat violent criminals without consequence – or at least bail?
Does it make any sense to call the riot on January 6, 2021, an insurrection?
Does it make any sense to open our borders to all who decide to immigrant?
Does it make any sense to say the United States is existentially racist? Or requiring ‘training’ for all federal and other employees wherein every Caucasian must admit to being a racist?
Does it make any sense to now say ‘birthing person’ rather than ‘mother?’
Does it make any sense to require high percentages of our electrical grid be supplied by solar and wind when those green energy sources can’t keep the lights on?
Does it make sense to value ‘equity’ over equality?
I could go on with these questions inquiring in most instances about blatant violations of common sense? So could you.
Unfortunately, the reason such propositions are not rejected out of hand is because too many of us are afraid of being negatively labeled and “canceled.” By whom? Answer: the tiny, radical social media mob and a compliant and supportive media.
You and I know, one of the first arguments for political correctness was that the use of certain words was “offensive” to some – and we certainly didn’t want to offend anyone, right?
We bought the Kool Aid and changed our words so that we didn’t get ‘canceled.’ College students played the game to avoid penalties – even expulsion – for using them.
What was/is happening was – little by little – we’re being lulled into the senseless farce that the words we use need to be woke – politically correct.
What’s happening at the same time is the negation of our constitutional right of free speech.
For 200 years we didn’t care about ‘offending’ anybody for something we said and felt strongly about. It was our right to express our opinions, whether anybody agreed or not. If somebody was ‘offended’ we simply listened to them and the reasons why. We allowed free speech for the ‘offended’ as well. It’s America.
The point is simple. Nobody has the right NOT to feel offended. That’s their business, not yours or mine.
Living in the US – and other countries – we’re still allowed to apply common sense when we see something happen and we see what caused it.
Although common sense is a skill that is supposed to be common, apparently it is not. There is a plethora of examples of people talking and acting in ways that are actually the opposite of common sense.
Some of this stuff just isn’t sensible, much less reasonable. It makes no sense and ignores common sense.
Yet here we are, silently complying for fear of being ‘canceled.’ And when we have so much of our media who represent the tiny portion of people considered ‘woke,’ we allow activity and language to manipulate us. Name calling has become a favorite pastime – and we’re letting them get away with it.
Maybe we should say we’re “offended” by incoherent, stupid political correctness and see if the politically correct come to our ‘rescue.’
Don’t hold your breath. It only works one way.
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Have a great and prosperous week.
Hug somebody.
References:
SPIDER Bites
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