According to…someone…we are all born with an innate “common sense.” I disagree. Common sense is about as common as snow in the desert. And, given the world around us, it’s not hard to understand why. It never ceases to amaze me how, well – stupid – our society has become.
The more I observe people, the more I believe that, in another few thousand years, the human brain will serve little purpose other than to keep the skull from caving in. I’m not kidding. As humans, our ability to reason and think (and I do use the terms loosely here) has not served us well on many fronts. Here are three of the most common scenarios that really make me wonder what people are thinking, if at all.
It’s a well known fact our diets have a huge impact on our health. You can’t eat unhealthy and fattening foods and not become fat or develop some sort of physical symptom at some point. And millions of people who are overweight and can barely walk are looking to blame anyone but themselves for their plight. Anyone remember the lawsuits filed against McDonald’s on behalf of people who claimed the franchise “made them fat”? When I heard about that, at first, I wasn’t sure I had heard correctly.
People demand the right to choose, and they chose to eat McDonald’s food. And with every choice comes consequences. Deal with it! (Please note that I am aware that there are medical conditions that make weight loss difficult and/or make weight gain easy. Please understand that I am not referring to those who are in such a state, nor am I referring to those who are proud to be larger. I am referring to the regular lazy ass who doesn’t like the fact that he/she is fat but refuses to take responsibility for his/her actions.)
A similar incident involving fast-food chains was the lawsuit filed after someone spilled their coffee and burned himself. That’s so ludicrous that I can’t fathom how that’s even considered in a court of law.
Come on people! Wake up! Yes, we live in a society governed by laws with loopholes that, unfortunately, allow for such stupidity. But really, it’s time to stop pointing the finger at other people when the only person to blame is yourself. Get off your ass and move. Stop eating so much and eat healthier foods. Use your head!
Another example of “uncommon” sense is the fact that teachers are prohibited to dispense painkillers to students suffering from a headache, yet abortions can be had BY CHILDREN (yes, until they’re 18 they’re children) without parental consent or involvement. Here we have made human life a trivial issue compared to the possible legal bind (as if) of giving a student a painkiller. I can’t help but hang my head and say that I’m embarrassed to be part of the same species as these people.
The one thing that seems to outdo anything as far as common sense goes is sex education. First of all, sex is not a school subject (not that it should be taboo, but hear me out.) Second of all, the sex education curriculum is severely flawed. Sex is viewed and taught in terms of mechanics, consequences, and tips on how to make it as safe as possible. In all my seven years of having to endure the same bullshit over and over, only twice did a teacher ever briefly touch upon the fact that sex is an intimate expression between a man and a woman, and not a cold, crude mechanical process between two horny teenagers.
Don’t get me wrong, it is important to be aware of how your body works and the dangers of STD’s, but the flaw is that it teaches sex without love and commitment. No doubt it’s due to the freedom people demand to have. Monogamy is seen as a religious stereotype, and God is kept out as much as possible (much to the detriment of this generation).
So, we have “professionals” telling our children that sex is okay as long as they’re ready, and (at my school, at least) any student could visit the school counselor for free condoms. “Better safe than sorry,” they counter. To me, making condoms readily available is an incentive that encourages sex and reinforces the empty, loveless sex they teach.
Sex education is ideally taught at home by parents, however awkward the experience may be. Don’t leave your child to learn about such a fundamental issue through the school system.
We’ve become so entangled in “our rights” that we have become totally blind to the fact that we are usually hurting and inconveniencing someone else far more than they did to us in the first place. As I said before, the brain’s function isn’t to keep your head from caving in. Use your gray matter! Think! The more people who decide to use their sense will make for fewer idiots in the world. But unfortunately, no matter how much progress is made, I’m afraid there will be no shortage.