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Ya'll have all read this at one time or another. You have seen it in your e-mails. But what does it really mean to you ? Do we really need BIG Government telling us what to do? Telling us that Hot Dogs are the wrong size. Telling us that We no longer need to own guns. Telling us that We should all chip in to cover everyones medical bills. Telling us that We have to accept 14-20 million illegal immigrants.
here is a link to Dumb Laws
http://www.azzit.de/humor/30.html
At work, We have a saying when some one does something stupid to a machine, that we are tiring to "idiot proof it", so they can't do it again. Why ?? is everyone stupid because of one person, Our government thinks so.
I want all of Ya'll on Newvine to post your thoughts. Is Common Sense Dead?
The Death of Common Sense - what does it mean to you ?
- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (20)
alright Ya'll fight nice http://www.newsvine.com/_nv/cms/help/faq/honor .
Tell me about your life's experiences with people that just don't have any common sense. You know the ones, no names please, they have to be told to come in out of the rain, that they are getting wet. they don't learn by watching others, "they have to piss on the electric fence themselves", to see if it works.
here is a link to some of the old common sense sayings, what is your favorite ?
- 1 vote
#1 - Sat Nov 6, 2010 4:07 AM EDTI narrowed my list down to 4.... can't choose only one (again, too much to say!) ---
"Common sense and nature will do a lot to make the pilgrimage of life not too difficult." - William Somerset Maugham
"Common sense is very uncommon." - Horace Greeley (similar from Voltaire)
"Common sense is in spite of, not as the result of, an education." - Victor Hugo
"Common sense is genius dressed in working clothes."- Ralph Waldo Emerson
----
Lack of common sense - Info altered to protect identities of this set of clueless parents with post-graduate level degrees. The parents told me that their child's failure is the fault of teachers and school systems - "nobody cares."
So, to compensate, this is what they gave their smart, but disengaged/disinterested/selfish 17-year-old when he/she has failed every core curriculum course since 5th grade, despite private tutoring each school year and in the summer:
- Two new ATVs -- first one totaled
- Two new Ford Explorers in less than 2 years -- first one totaled
- Three two-week snowboarding camp sessions in USA and Canada in 4 years
- TV and computer in bedroom since age 10 with no parental oversight
- No incentives to work or save money - sit around stuffing face with junk food while on Facebook and other Internet sites until 2-3 AM all year
- State-of-the-art cellphone with every app available
- $4,000 guitar. Lessons "not needed," he/she just wants to fool around with it
I was called a stingy, draconian parent, because I taught my children to respect education, do their best, that school was their primary "job" and the entree to their future. If they wanted to be plumbers, fine. Trade school works, too. They also had to do part-time work so they understood that life isn't a perpetual amusement park and that there's no free ride.
Great article, ladogg. I was hoping that you'd post "The Death of Common Sense" soon. Your common sense sayings link is great!
- 1 vote
#2 - Mon Nov 8, 2010 2:19 PM ESTthanks you very much NJPerson, and thanks for the great post. i too was like you i told all my childern school is your JOB this is what you do until you find work. i did not care what kind of work they did as long as they were happy doing it.
- 1 vote
Mine worked as babysitters, at Starbucks, neighborhood lawn maintenance/snow shoveling, grocery store clerks. They're well on their way with work ethics. But, a parent's job really never ends .... it evolves as our children mature. And, common sense is everyone's greatest asset.
I hope that more people find your article.
- 2 votes
i started to tell what mine were up to, they all have good work ethics also, except one and she is starting to come around.
my oldest daughter - works as a rep. for a doctors office, son - 1lt US Army (Afghanistan), next daughter loan officer, then a daughter is a nurse, finally annie (the youngest) is finishing her master's degree in psychology. all of them work odd jobs to find what the are doing now, most of them come back to me and say "you know dad, i used one of your silly common sense phases"
thanks for your support feel free to use it in your post if it applies
- 2 votes
Really liked this seed...I am glad you found it and posted it.
- 1 vote
#3 - Tue Nov 9, 2010 12:34 PM ESTthanks sushicat - i am glad you liked it, do you have a favorite common sense quote ?
#4 - Tue Nov 9, 2010 12:37 PM ESTThe Gerber Corporation (makers of knives) once considered shipping their products without sharpening them as a "safety" measure. The premise was that they could avoid law suits for providing a "dangerous" product.
Someone must have pointed out that the only thing more dangerous than a sharp knife is a dull one.
*******
Illinois -According to state law, it is illegal to speak English. The officially recognized language is "American".
This is the only law that DOES display "Common Sense". We do NOT speak "English". We speak "American". We have elevators, they have lifts. We have hoods on cars, they have bonnets. We have trunks, they have boots. We pull trailers, they have floats. England and American are two countries separated by a "common" language!!!
- 3 votes
#5 - Tue Nov 9, 2010 12:55 PM ESTthanks Dr Know - very educational, yes we do speak "American". I have often wondered why two countries with a common language could be so "far apart" on words.
- 1 vote
Dr. Know and ladogg - I hope neither of you mind that I slightly differ from your opinions. In a way, you're right, but in other ways, I feel that you're not considering something.
Many languages use different words for the same item. French - France and Canada: Montreal/Quebec, Haiti, Belgium. Spanish - Spain/Mexico for a short list, and Portuguese - Portugal/Brazil. I have a good grasp of Spanish and Portuguese (French not so much) ... words and even spellings of the same word vary within the languages depending on the country's outside influences.
In these foreign countries Spanish is still Spanish, French is still French, and Portuguese is still Portuguese ... no matter what country uses the language. We really can't make our language "American," because our country really isn't called "America." It's the United States of America. There are many countries located in the American continents.
Also, English, whether British or "American," has had more linguistic influences, for example, than Romance languages. "American" English has had even more than British English. There weren't many South and North American or Caribbean indigenous people who migrated to England centuries ago, but they migrated to what's now the USA. And these cultures influenced our language development.
The one thing that I really would like is that our legislature enacts constitutional law that English is our national language. Hundreds of countries have a national language ... why can't we?
I hope I didn't offend anyone.
- 1 vote
#6 - Tue Nov 9, 2010 3:46 PM ESTAmongst Spanish speakers they define "other" languages under the Spanish umbrella. I lived in Puerto Rico for a while. I had a hard time understanding and being understood. One day I expressed my frustration to a colleague from Colombia. "Don't worry, I have the same problem. Your Spanish is fine. They do not speak Spanish, they speak Puertoricaneo." They say the same thing about most of the islands that have a language based on Spanish. Words exist that do not exist outside that island and have no discernable meaning. At least we can guess what a "lift" is.
Why are the citizens of the United States of America referred to world wide as "Americans" instead of United Statesians? We ARE Americans and we speak "American". It is a definite dialect of English but NOT English.
- 2 votes
Dr. Know - I started responding to you in a different way but thought better of it, because I don't think that ladogg meant his article and thread to become a language debate. We obviously have semantics disagreements, and I think that it's best that we agree to disagree.
I do agree with you about variances in Spanish pronunciation. I have no problem understanding people from South America, but Spanish from Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico make my head spin. The same happens with Portuguese. No problem with people from the state of Sao Paulo (I have family there) .... but Rio, northern Brazil, and Portugal ... I really have to pay attention.
"Why are the citizens of the United States of America referred to world wide as "Americans" instead of United Statesians? We ARE Americans and we speak "American". It is a definite dialect of English but NOT English."
Very good question, and I don't have a better answer other than what I posted in #6. I know that we're called Americans, but it's technically incorrect. Citizens from Central and South America, as well as Canadians are also Americans. "American" is a name for continents, not nations - just like European, Asian, African. It's "assumed" that American = USA, but it's not factual geographically, linguistically, historically, ethnically, etc.
Except for only a few words out of our extensive vocabulary, the battle over "American" vs. "English" really needn't exist. Dialect refers mostly to pronunciation (eg, Cockney) ... not an entire country's language. Consider dialectology, lexicology.
If you prefer English to be called "American," so be it. I'll adhere to calling my native tongue English until federal law changes it. I'm as patriotic as they come, but I don't fret over my language being called "American." As I said, I'd like our language to be the recognized national language of the USA during my lifetime.
- 2 votes
look both of you are doing fine, this is how we learn. I am not a word person. I only speak American English, i can use some broken Spanish.
feel free to debate - food for thought - do ya'll suppose that common sense got lost because of the different meanings of the words and the way some people might interpret them ??
is that why mankind has so many conflicts, meanings of words ??
let me know ! (no pun Dr)
- 2 votes
" food for thought - do ya'll suppose that common sense got lost because of the different meanings of the words and the way some people might interpret them ??"
Hmmm.... Give me a while to think on this one. It's a good question, and I think there are several answers.
- 1 vote
dogg - I dusted, vacuumed, and started dinner while thinking about your 6.3 question. By definition, common sense means sound judgment, knowing right from wrong, wit, logic, respect, and forming decisions/actions on these concepts. I believe that these transcend language differences, but they may sometimes play a cultural role.
Example: I had a roommate from Denmark, highly intelligent, well-traveled, and fluent in English. I was taught to ask permission before borrowing something; she wasn't. To her, we were roommates who should share everything without asking permission. Nearly 35 years later, I still shake my head thinking about how many of my blouses and skirts she took without asking and ruined. There's no common language needed to understand that ruining the property of others is wrong.
More to your point -- You and your British friend just finished hiking and are standing next to your vehicle. He asks, "May I put my backpack in your boot?" Would you look down at your feet and then call him a dumba$$? I'll go out on a limb and say that you wouldn't. You'd probably ask him, "What do you mean?" And then, he'd clarify. THAT'S common sense.
I wish that your article were visible to more people on Newsvine. I've seen such lack of common sense here that my former roommate now looks like a saint.
I have a thought for a seed, but I don't know how to get it on here. I'll reread the tutorials, but if you have any advice, I welcome it.
- 1 vote
excellant thoughts - NJPerson - and LOL @
I wish that your article were visible to more people on Newsvine. I've seen such lack of common sense here that my former roommate now looks like a saint.
ok, so the words are not the problem, it is the things we are taught ! so is the message getting lost ? are we not teaching others common sense ? i try to do my part but i feel it falls on deaf ears.
common sense means sound judgment, knowing right from wrong, wit, logic, respect, and forming decisions/actions on these concepts.
i think the respect part is what has failed the most, respect use to be something you earned.
now it is forced down our throats. we all knew growing up, that you respect other peoples rights, religion, and political opinions. until they disrepected yours. now we are told your have to repect everything about everybody.
let me give an example - if i am at work a two people are give a job to do together. i repect that person for their rights, religion, and political opinions, but when they sit around and not help with with the job, do i still repect their work ethics . no, i don't and as time goes on i respect that person in general less. i become less respect of the other three.
by the way - i am not vocal about it !
- 1 vote
There is no "official" language. The Federal Government has never set ONE language as the official language. That is why there is a plethora of official documents in many languages. My Thai friends can take the written test for a driver's license in Thai. When is the last time you saw any traffic signs in Thai?
We broke off from England. We changed the side of the road to demonstrate that difference. The Church of England became the Episcopal Church to illustrate that difference. We fought the War of 1812 because England was kidnapping our citizens into the British Navy. Why cling to the "Queen's English". Embrace the change (after 200+ years is it not time?)!!!
- 1 vote
#7 - Wed Nov 10, 2010 12:50 PM ESTDr. Know - I respect your opinion, but what are you talking about? I know there's no "official" USA language and that our federal government has never enacted an "official" language into law. I've already said that on this thread, and IMO, therein lies part of the USA's problem. Logically thinking, why should we:
- offer written drivers' tests in dozens of foreign languages when our road signs are in English?
- mandate police officers to read "Miranda Rights" in dozens of foreign languages?
- provide US citizenship tests and interviews in foreign languages?
- offer specialized ESL in public schools? Millions of immigrant children have come to the USA not knowing English and learned it quickly AND without special teachers.
IMO, we coddle people unnecessarily using taxpayer money - just because of language and PC-ness. I don't know of foreign countries providing those services and courtesies for free.
I appreciate your history and religion lessons, but I already knew these things. US federal government, i.e., Constitution, isn't based upon any religion.
You're correct in saying that we "broke off" from England, but our ties to her still run deep, and this is true of other former colonies as well. RHD isn't a good example of colonial rebellion, because USA RHD federal laws weren't enacted until many decades after the American Revolution. I don't use Wikipedia as my go-to source, but it has a good description of when and why international road laws occurred, and they didn't happen because of colonials fighting for independence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic
"Queen's English" refers to a specific, distinct "British" accent/pronunciation - not a language unto itself. Former British colonies, i.e., Canada, Australia, India, and the USA, that maintain English as their main (not necessarily "official") language don't reflect the accents of "The Queen's English." Wikipedia, but good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation
Dr. Know, it seems that you have very strong anti-British sentiments, and that's your prerogative. I'm secure with my US birth and have no problem calling my native tongue English. I find no reason to take a stand and call it American. The American Revolution and other wars with Great Britain are long past, and Great Britain is now our ally. Remember, both Spanish and French languages can be called "American" as well, because they are the primary languages spoken on both North and South "American" continents as well as Central America, the Caribbean, and island nations.
Thanks for the discussion, but I'd rather remain on topic and discuss Common Sense.
I am amazed that I am always "labeled" as "anti-" when I state historical facts. It is true that many of my ancestors are from Wales, Ireland and Scotland. All countries with "unpleasant" histories with England.
I have pointed out the fact that there are two "American" continents and all kinds of countries in the Americas. There is only one country, however, that is universally referred as "America" when applied to its citizens. The EEUU (Estados Unidos) still has Americans...
- 1 vote
Dr. Know - I have many things about my ancestry background that I could discuss that are much more than simple "unpleasant" history.
Please, let's agree to disagree about linguistic semantics. I don't like to argue, and that's what I feel that you're trying to do. Thank you.
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