Lies, damned lies, and statistics…

Just how common is common sense? Perhaps the more important question is how much sense is there in common sense? If we were to break “common sense” down into its parts which half would be more important? The reason for these linguistic gymnastics is that the truest definition of the term is “a belief that is held by many or most.”  Pay particular notice that the word “fact” or “truth” does not appear in the definition. I’m afraid “reason” is also missing.

If I were to ask you what is happening with the crime rate would you say that it is going up or down?  What if you were asked questions about the rates of teen pregnancies, or unwed mothers, or the number of abortions.  As you begin to feel unease about the increasingly dangerous and immoral world that your children and grandchildren inhabit what does your common sense tell you?

To ease your troubled mind here are some facts.  The crime rate has been trending down since 1991 and teen pregnancies are down by ½ since the same year.  According to the CDC the number of unwed mothers has dropped over the last decade and the number of abortions are at the lowest numbers since legalization in the early 1970s and have been declining since 1981.

So why should I care, Brian?  It’s not like common sense is dangerous.  

Feelings Run Amok

My concern is that common sense is based more on feeling than on reality. American history is full of incidents of politicians, of every party, preying upon the ignorance of constituents to push legislation, so to claim that any current politician is responsible for this “misguided populism” only continues the loop.  Being stirred by emotions makes one less rational and therefore more susceptible to manipulation, so save your passions for college basketball and leave them out of politics.

Describing legislation as “common sense” is an easy way for politicians to over simplify complex situations and to convince their followers that they can claim logical and often moral authority.  It also points to singular solutions to problems which almost always require cooperation.  Whenever safety and morality are offered as end products to emotional people it may be time to stop and ask a politicians a few simple questions.  Safety from what and for whom?  And whose morality are we using as a basis for decisions?

Whether it’s a voter I.D. law or a border wall we may want to exchange common sense for common ground.  And for those of you that noticed I’m using a quote from Paine’s American Crisis as the title instead of a quote from Common Sense good for you.  I mean it’s not like we’re experiencing and American crisis after all.