Common Sense, Common Courtesy, and Common Decency are becoming extinct like the Dodo bird!

Yes, you read the above correctly. The common sense, common courtesy, and common decency in man (referring to all forms of people in general) of which I have been accustomed  to and have been abiding by for over thirty years are SERIOUSLY becoming extinct in this country like the Dodo bird.

I'm not speaking for all of the other countries out there because I have never stepped out of the lovely US of A. I'm sure there are other countries out there which still posses the above qualities. I would say this pertains to where I reside but this is also not the case, as you have witnessed from watching the news, reading online news sites, and such. The lack of the above is pretty much all around us. Let's go over each one of these so-called 'traits" one at a time:

Common Sense. The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines common sense as: 

"sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts"

It also lists some examples such as:

• Obey the laws and use common sense when operating your boat.
• She's very smart but she doesn't have a lot of common sense.

Here are my own examples of common sense based on what I have experienced around me throughout the years:

• If food is steaming hot, don't put it in your mouth unless you want to feel burning pain.
• If a dog put something he shouldn't in his mouth, don't give him a treat (reward) just so he removes the thing from his mouth. That's like giving a kid ice cream for pouring water out of a vase on a table so he can make his boat float!
• If you consumed alcohol to the point where you even "think" you are a little drunk, don't get in your car or on your bike and DRIVE! It's just that simple, no excuses!
• If you really have the urge to have sex at ANY given time and don't want to deal with your and your douchebag boyfriend's mistake of getting you pregnant because you are not in a good environment or financial state to have a kid (or another kid!) , wrap it up or get it up in the crap! Or, better yet, just don't have sex at all! We don't need anymore kids popping out from parents who LACK common sense in the first place!
• If you barely have any money to begin with and bitch about such things on [insert social site here], don't be posting pictures of the new shoes, shirts, or cars you just bought. Nobody wants to hear you sobbing later on when you can't pay that phone bill or put fuel in your car!

I can go on but... I will stop there! Feel free to add some of your own in the comments!

Common sense is, in my opinion, a logical way of thinking based on facts and situations which have been learned, usually at an earlier age. If common sense isn't learned at an early age and improved upon during growing up, it is most likely too late to be obtained. If the parents do not teach their kids common sense at an early age and help them develop it until the kids are old enough to use their own sound judgement based on what they have already learned, the kids will soon get into trouble for making foolish decisions based on their LACK of common sense.

A lot of times people blame the kids for their negative actions around us. But, logically and rationally speaking, are they really the ones to blame? Most of the time, no.

If their parents would pay attention to them and NOT just do their own thing while the kid is just sitting around the house after school watching TV or playing video games, the kids more than likely would not follow the path of the criminal mind of which has been learned from... not video games or TV but by their peers who have parents who have been pretty much ignoring their kids as well.

A few things which has been leading the parents to the ignorance of their kids are...

• The parents themselves are still kids. There is a show now (well, it's been on for a few years already) on TV about it called "16 and Pregnant" Since the parents are still kids themselves, they still want to go out and have fun and be a kid instead of tending to their kid. I'm sure I don't have to reiterate but this has to do with what was already discussed above... common sense AND their parents. However, it also has to do with the "in thing" and being a "cool kid" so they can be popular and get all those Facebook likes about their pregnancy status with a picture of the pregnancy test attached! Unfortunately  sex has turned into a game and physical "activity" than what it was originally meant to be for: Love (emotion) of  partners which leads to intimacy (physical closeness and the exploration of each others bodies) then, lastly, sex, or to put it more "politically correct," sexual intercourse. But, there are also other, let's say, non-just reasons these kids get pregnant as well: force, drugs, and other reasons I care to not get into. We can call those "extenuating circumstances."
• Parent's high on that crack (or some other drug). We see it in the news all the time: "Mother of 7 year old kid found in bed overdosed on crack." "Parents of 11 year old year old makes kid smoke..." "Parent leaves 6 year old home while going out for drugs...." Need I say more?
• Parent's get divorced which causes kids to do foolish acts for attention because they think their parents got a divorce because of them. 

Common sense, as you probably already found out, has a lot to do with what is considered "right" or "wrong." Society bases what is right or wrong from what is known as "Law of the Land." 

"It refers to all of the laws in force within a country or region, including both statute law and common law"

A few quick examples of these can be as simple as:

• Do not steal
• Do not hurt others for no reason
• Do not drive through a red light
• Do not drive way below or way above the posted speed limit 
• Do not hurt animals. 

Now, as you can see from the above, these so-called laws have a lot to do with common sense because it has to do with what is right and what is wrong. However, are we to say we will NEVER do such things, ever? If you also didn't realize by now, common sense has a lot to do with morality as well.

"Morality (from the Latin moralitas "manner, character, proper behavior") is the differentiation of intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are "good" (or right) and those that are "bad" (or wrong)"

There is a philosophy on morality which is called "ethics." As you can see, the discussion of this topic can go on and on to infinity and beyond.

Let's get back to those bullet points. Each point is illegal (in the US) which, in turn, makes each point wrong and unjust. However, let's go through them one at a time with an analogy...

• Do not steal. Stealing is wrong, correct? I'm sure we can all agree on that. However, what if you are driving in your lovely 10 year old Grand AM with 145k miles down this farm land strip in the boonies where there is nothing but citrus trees.   All of sudden, the car just craps out and you have no choice but to pull over to the side of the road near the citrus trees. It's around 1PM on a Tuesday and it's 90 degrees outside and you, as always, have on your black jeans and black boots attire. You had nothing to drink or eat since the day before because you usually eat later in the day after you are done doing what you gotta do. You have your cell phone but... them don't work over in them boonies. And, even if it did, you didn't have your AAA subscription yet! So, you have no choice but to get out the car and start walking on...As you walk on, you are starving and in dire need to quench your thirst. You have no clue what is up ahead and see the orange trees as you keep walking to who knows where. Your strong morally and just conscience tells you to not take what is not yours but your sweaty and extremely dehydrated body walking in the 90 degree Florida sun is telling you otherwise. It's either take an orange or two or... pass out in the middle of nowhere... man!

Before heading up to the crossroads like the man above, you take and eat a few oranges as you continue on to your journey while no car (or life, with the exception of the vultures circling you above) in sight! You finally come across a small convenience store up ahead. You walk into the store and grab a bottle of water and take it up to the register. You pull out your soggy wallet from your sweaty pants and hand the debit card to the cashier because you don't have any cash in your wallet (cash in the wallet is rare these days) and the cashier looks at you like you have five heads. Then they say, in their broken English, "we no take card. Cash only!" Knowing they will not understand your story nor would they care, you take that bottle and walk quickly out the door because your body would soon collapse if you didn't. So, there you go... you now stole some oranges and a bottle of water. Although your common sense said not to because it was illegal, wrong, and unjust, you know you had to do it to survive. Does this make you a bad man?

• Do not hurt others for no reason - Of course, we would never hurt a soul. However, we need not explain the times when we did hurt others for no reason, physically and mentally by.... accident. A few examples:

As you can see from the above, people were hurt mentally (and physically) but they were mostly because of a misunderstanding or.... a freak accident!

• Do not drive through a red light - I'm sure you see it a lot. Cars every day go through red lights. They are so in rush and just can't wait at the red lights. This doesn't apply to the emergency vehicles out there though. Each time a consumer car does it, there is always that risk. Unless there is someone pregnant or in a serious health condition, I don't really see any other just reason why a person must fly through a red light. So, there are just reasons for this illegal and wrong act but it's only for extenuating circumstances. 
• Do not drive way below or above the posted speed limit - This is, of course, something we are all pretty much guilty of. However, I'm sure we don't get out of hand when it comes to this. We have to ask ourselves, what is too fast and what is too slow? I usually go about 10mph over the posted limit on the main highways and major roads but keep to the speed limit in residential areas and side streets. However, there are still many cars out there who still pass ME doing 10mph on highways! So, should I continue going my speed and impede the flow of the ones flying by or just keep at my current speed?  To tell you the truth, sometimes I take my foot off the pedal and slow down when someone is tailing me pretty close.... just so they know they need to keep their distance from this strange individual. As far as driving way below the limit, unless there is a lot of traffic or serious road conditions or you are feeling like crap, you should not have any other reason to drive 30mph in a 40mph 2-lane road at night... when you are the only car on the road! It's as simple as that!  This has to do with another topic I'll get into later. 
• Do not hurt animals - This shouldn't need to be explained. There are some obvious extenuating circumstances with this as well. Big bear coming after you and you have no other choice but to shoot it. I'd say that's justifiable. However, if the bear is just sitting around with her cubs and you shoot it and put the bear head on your wall as a trophy? I don't think that was moral and justifiable. I know people go hunting and shoot animals as a "sport" yet they love the way the deer or bird looks. If you love them so much and think they are beautiful animals.... why take their life away? This is probably something I will never understand.

I'm sure I have done more than enough than what was necessary to give you a firm understanding of what common sense is, how it is used in every day life, and how it is lacking these days in society. I know, I see it NOT being used around me every day around me and closer to me than you may think!

What's your take? Leave your feedback in the comments section regarding your bouts with other's common sense and LACK thereof.

I have decided this is going to be a three part series. Part two will be on common courtesy.

Until next time,

Justin - man of justice and.... the (mostly) morally just way!