"Common Sense"

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Thought of the Day

“Common Sense”

September 19, 2022

 

“Do not be bullied out of your common sense

by the specialist; two to one, he is a pedant.”

                                                                                                                     Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894)

                                                                                                                     Over the Teacups, 1891

 

Webster’s defines common sense as “sound and prudent judgement, based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” Lucretia Peabody Hale’s The Peterkin Papers provides fictions best (and most amusing) examples of common sense – with the “Lady from Philadelphia” offering obvious solutions to what seem insurmountable obstacles to the Peterkin family.

 

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A year ago, I wrote an essay regretting the loss of common sense in the political realm: “Common Sense – Where has it Gone?” (September 29, 2021). It was a lament, without answer. 

 

Now, three disparate events remind me that common sense remains AWOL: First, I have been re-reading a 1999 collection of essays by Thomas Sowell, Barbarians Inside the Gates. The book speaks to the loss of common sense in political, social, and cultural realms. Second, Queen Elizabeth’s death was a reminder of the importance of personal traits like common sense, stability, tradition, and personal virtue, which Western culture has replaced with silliness, variability, ignorance, and social virtues. And third, a eulogy for Common Sense was recently sent me. I had seen it before, but it is worth re-reading.

 

Sowell’s book, published in 1999, was prophetic, as conditions he then wrote about remain with us – racism, declines in education standards, hyperbole over man-caused climate change, the advocacy for socialism and the criticism of capitalism in the West, and political extremism. Sowell is a realist who relies on facts and who cares little for sentiment. His observations reflect his intolerance for the idiocy of most politicians. In an essay titled “From Marxism to the Market,” he wrote: “The rhetoric of socialism may be inspiring, but the actual record is dismal.” In another, “The Multiculturalism Cult,” he wrote of how real people around the world do not “celebrate diversity;” they “pick and choose which of their own cultural features they want to keep and which they want to dump…” In a third, “Life is Culturally Biased,” he noted: “As limited human beings, we must make our choices among the alternatives actually available.” A fourth essay, “Anti-Elitism in Education:” “…you cannot let everyone go to Stuyvesant (where Sowell went in the late 1940s) without its ceasing to be the kind of school that makes them want to go there.” That the problems he wrote of so long ago have only worsened is a sad commentary on our social, cultural, and political life.

 

Much has been written of the remarkable saga of Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign. In death, if not always in life, she was admired from those across the political spectrum. I have read several obituaries, including those in England’s Spectator and The London Telegraph. The best, in my opinion, was Andrew Roberts’ essay in the September 10-11 edition of The Wall Street Journal. He wrote: “Would to God that more of our leaders in public life had a fraction of her grace, her gravitas and, above all, her common sense.” In her 1957 Christmas message, as Britain was transitioning from Empire to Commonwealth, Elizabeth warned against “carelessly” throwing away “ageless ideals.” While I am not a monarchist, I applaud the Queen’s role in helping unwind the Empire, and I appreciate the unity she helped bring to Britain, something that in the U.S. was once provided by universal respect for the ideals – if not the lives – of the Founders. Today, we have imposed current moral standards on historical individuals and cultures (along with the divisive and historically erroneous 1619 Project), which have destroyed what had been a near-universal faith in the words embedded in the writings of the Founders. No matter our political leanings, we all – immigrant and native born, white and black, men and women – once believed in the universal truths expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers. Sadly, that is no longer true. With the death of the Queen, Brits – no matter their sex, religion, or country of origin – have rediscovered their British commonality. 

 

As for the obituary for common sense (“Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense”), it first appeared in The London Times at least twenty-four years ago. The obituary mentions that “he” was preceded in death “by his parents, Truth and Trust; by his wife, Discretion; by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.” While it makes one smile, its truth makes one cringe.

 

We see the loss of common sense in the hypocrisy of our immigration policy, where elites who favor open borders squeal when migrants land in their backyards. We see it in the exaggerations of our climate scaremongers who play Canute, while ignoring extreme climate changes that have occurred naturally over millions of years. We read of it in the wacky assumption that increased spending will somehow bring down debt and reduce inflation. We see it in the lack of choice in public schools for the poor, especially in inner cities. We see it in the political indoctrination of college students, and in racism that persists against Asians and whites. We see it in a call for diversity and inclusion that excludes conservative speakers and opinions. We see it in the spewing of hatred and in the absence of civility. Common sense is the antithesis of political correctness. Worse, its absence is never mentioned by mainstream media.

 

Common sense interferes with politicians’ desire for control. They are less interested in answers than in keeping alive issues. Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization did not ban abortion. It threw the decision back to the states, to allow the people to decide, as is proper in a democracy. Our Founders did not create a country to be run by an oligarchy of nine unelected judges in black robes. Common sense tells us that we, the people, should make such decisions through our elected representatives. The Left explains, commonsensically, that higher taxes on tobacco and booze reduce consumption of both. However, they fail to apply the same logic when it comes to higher taxes on employers and capital investments. Common sense uses reason, not emotion. It employs restraint, not indulgence.

 

Will common sense be resurrected? I hope so, but I worry. The Hoover Institute’s Thomas Sowell does not hold out much hope. He once wrote: “What is so rare as a day in June? Common sense on the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals.” Sad, but true.