The title of my column might sound like a reference to the often used phrase bantered about way too often. I concur with Albert Einstein’s quote “Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by the age of eighteen.”
Rather, I choose this title due to its significance in American history and as an homage to Thomas Paine, who wrote the best publication bearing this moniker in 1776. Paine’s work challenged the authority of the British government and the royal monarchy. The plain language that Paine used spoke to the common people of America and was the first work to openly ask for independence from Great Britain.
I always admired Paine’s passion in his writing which, many say, was key in America’s 1776 Declaration of Independence. In addition, I was a freshman in high school in Philadelphia during the 200-year anniversary and can remember the fireworks still. Just three years later we had the first eclipse I’ve witnessed in my lifetime in 1979.
Since this is the editorial portion of the newspaper, I tend to throw in a topic, a dose of opinion mixed with what I find in the way of facts, and the resulting concoction is a review of local, state, federal or just plain weird news that seems interesting.
I know not everyone is going to agree with my viewpoints, despite any research I might cite or side I weigh in on. While I might not always agree with everyone, I respect the right of everyone to believe as they choose and vote for any candidate they feel represents them the best. Sometimes, you don’t always get a choice you totally agree with, but we do the best we can.
As far as politics go, I would best describe myself as an independent. Liberal on some topics, and conservative on others. I like to make choices based on the issue-at-hand rather than rubber stamp a brand name. I like to think Americans are still an independent thinking lot, despite the ongoing political rhetoric that drones on and on seemingly getting worse all the time.
One could make the observation there’s either too much common sense or not enough depending on how one describes what is going on in the political arena these days. We Westerners are a pragmatic bunch, that’s for sure, and being strong-minded seems to go with the territory. Bring up a hot-button topic like health care and you get folks jumping on the soap box defending a position before you even get to the civilized discussion part.
That might be key right there, having your mind made up before the talking even gets started. That’s a recipe for crazy if I ever heard one. What do they say, keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result is the definition of crazy? If that’s the case, we have crazy down to a science.
For me, the newspaper is a place where you should get a well-rounded dose of viewpoints, news and entertainment. I got into this game, not to convince you of anything, but to report on what is actually going on out there in the community … so you can make your own mind up.