An Obituary printed in the London Times

[havasu]

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, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
-I Know My Rights
-I Want It Now
-Someone Else Is To Blame
-I'm A Victim

[Musicinabottle]

Good one Havasu! Kind of reminds me of the mindset nowadays which is to deny everything and make counter accusations! Thanks for sharing!

[RedJeepXJ]

common sense changes with time

yes we go crazy about stuff now but what happened in the past? or still happens today in uneducated masses?

we would drown people to see if they were witches.
we thought lightning meant the gods were angry.
we thought smells were the cause of disease and not the sewage interacting with the well water
we sacrificed animals and humans to the gods.
we separated people by the color of their skin.
we kept slaves (it was common sense at the time it was going on that it was ok)
we mutilated infant genitals to appease some mythical being (oh wait we still do that).
and one can go on and on about the stupid things we used to do (and sometimes still do) and accepted them at the time but we smartened up. We don't like to remember the bad things, just the good. Every generation has thought to have lost more and more common sense and morals as time goes on, but things change, some stuff becomes silly, yes but other areas we improve on, that's life, that's progress.

The idea that "common sense" was ever common is a fantasy that exists only in the minds of people looking backwards, everyone tends to remember the past as being better then it was (there was a study done that shows the older someone gets the faster bad memories are pushed out of the mind)

what period in time do you view as when people had "common sense" as in what year(s)?

[havasu]

There you go again Red. Take a lighthearted post and tearing it down until you make us want to eat a gun!

[RedJeepXJ]

Originally Posted by havasu

There you go again Red. Take a lighthearted post and tearing it down until you make us want to eat a gun!

my mistake, I thought this was a debate forum

[havasu]

Oh yeah, resume!

[YelloJeep]

Originally Posted by RedJeepXJ

common sense changes with time..................what period in time do you view as when people had "common sense" as in what year(s)?

Oh brother....Here we go.


That Obit. is awesome.

[Funetical]

Originally Posted by RedJeepXJ

my mistake, I thought this was a debate forum

No mistake, that's what I'm here for.

Originally Posted by YelloJeep

Oh brother....Here we go.


That Obit. is awesome.

Same as it ever was.

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."

Plato quoting Socrates, the origin is contested. The point is, for as long as humanity has existed a few constants have remained.

Children Disobey.
Common Sense, whatever that means, never existed.
Personal responsibility has never existed (Hence law).
The list goes on.



The more we change, the more we stay the same.

[havasu]

Originally Posted by funetical

the more we change, the more we stay the same.

--------------------
qft!

[blucher]

Originally Posted by RedJeepXJ

The idea that "common sense" was ever common is a fantasy that exists only in the minds of people looking backwards, everyone tends to remember the past as being better then it was (there was a study done that shows the older someone gets the faster bad memories are pushed out of the mind)

As a lifelong student of History I could easily furnish examples. We're a young species experimenting with ways to get along with eachother. Perhaps we looked beyond regional or religious bias we could see our world as the fragile thing it actually is. there is little reason to falsely gild the past when we should be ensuring our futures.