It used to be one of our life skills once upon a time, but for the last few years or so I’ve come to the conclusion that much of the population wouldn’t know common sense if they fell over it. I think it may have been shunted out the door when the age of entitlement, along with the concept that people are no longer responsible for their own actions, got a foothold because for the last decade or so it has become the norm to blame everything else for one’s own stupidity and, coupled with the Nanny State mentality on the loose throughout the various community organisations and minor government wannabes, we have a growing population of people sitting back and waiting for someone else to fix their lives for them.
Take obesity. The bottom line here is that if you and/or your offspring are unhealthily overweight, it is actually your own fault. It is not the supermarkets’ fault. Nor is it the fault of the various fast food outlets or television advertising. It’s not even the government’s fault! It is yours. You see, common sense would have told you (and probably did but you chose to ignore it) that a steady diet of burgers, chips, soft drink, fried chicken, alcohol, confectionary, pizzas and general laziness was not good for you or your kids and would probably result in you all becoming morbidly obese. It is not, then, up to the government or any other organisation to fix that for you, yet taxpayers are funding things like star ratings on food and other programs designed to educate you about good diets and healthier eating. Why is that? Once upon a time people knew the deal and lived accordingly.
Illegal drugs. So despite all the information out there on how harmful and addictive they are you still opted to try them all and start using regularly. Then you got hooked. You have since committed various offences while under the influence of your drug of choice or in order to get the money to pay for your next fix and now you’re in trouble up to your eyeballs because the offences are nasty ones. This is actually your own fault. Why? Because you ignored the warnings that common sense definitely told you were worth heeding. Therefore, why should anyone be expected to come up with excuses for you or be able to blame your addiction for your crime spree? You knew these things were bad news yet you still chose to use. Why shouldn’t you go to gaol instead of receiving another good behaviour bond (to add to the long list of bonds you’re already been granted)?
Sense of entitlement and instant gratification. Just because these are alive and well in today’s society doesn’t mean they are good for you or your children. In fact, they are even worse for children because they encourage then to grow up into selfish, pedantic adults who believe that everything still revolves around them and they can get downright nasty if someone contradicts that mindset.
Homeless kids. In the majority of cases they aren’t. They have perfectly good homes with great parents but they object to the restrictions imposed to keep them safe and because the social security services start handing them money from the age of 16, which increases if they are not living at home, they take off. Then impart a farcial tale of woe to whoever will listen. Common sense should have made it very clear to the particular government that introduced youth allowance that it was a bad idea but apparently it didn’t. Before youth allowance payments, kids either stayed at school or left and found work, then continued to live at home until they could fund their own life. Hopefully, common sense will tell the parents of feral kids who nick off to live in dives on welfare, that giving them money to prop up their dubious lifestyle is a bad idea. It just sets a precedent. Better to let them learn what it really means to live independently, things like budgeting and living within their means. They will only do that when you stop giving them money.
Expensive gadgetry for preschoolers. The three-year-old has an iPad and an iPhone. Are you *&$#@)! crazy??! For goodness sake! Where is your common sense? Oh that’s right, no one seems to know what that is anymore.
Makes no sense to me at all.