Current trends suggest that our nation is losing its herd immunity. Not a herd immunity against coronavirus or some other disease, but the herd immunity of common sense that protects us from all kinds of nonsense. For example:
- Our elected government officials seldom refer to themselves as public servants; instead, we hear about “elected leaders” or “members of the ruling class.” Common sense once held that elected officials work for the voters rather than the voters working for the leadership. Does the idea of an elite ruling class rather than public servants bother anyone?
- Federal and state governments send stimulus and bailout money to people without any demonstration of financial need, and people accept it without any apparent concern. Who do they think will pay the bill? Common sense used to hold that we should pay our way, but some people seem to think it fine to pass the costs of such distributions down to our grandchildren.
- Social justice warriors categorize people (e.g., label them as racist) based on nothing more than the color of their skin. Isn’t this the essence of racism? Meanwhile, politicians feel free to label anyone who disagrees with them as racist, making the term almost meaningless. Common sense would laugh such behaviors right out of the room, but nobody seems to be laughing.
- We hear loud accusations and name-calling over proposed laws (e.g., legislation to reduce voter disenfranchisement and improve voting access), but upon examination it turns out that the accusers have apparently never read the legislation in question. Common sense would require someone to read the legislation before commenting on its content, but maybe that practicality fell by the wayside.
You can probably point out other examples where common sense is no longer very common. But what can we do to turn this around? Or maybe it is out of our hands, and it is time to get serious about praying for our nation.
A Cup of Brouhaha 