Common Sense , Moral Responsibility and teaching our children well

Common Sense is defined byMerriam-Webster as, "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” TheCambridge Dictionary defines it as, "the basic level of practical knowledge and judgment that we all need to help us live in a reasonable and safe way.”

It can be further defined as ideas that tend to relate to events within human experience. There is an underlying belief that the term was used in earlier centuries, to describe the level of knowledge that was possessed by the common population. There was a distinct separation between the “common people” and the aristocracy or elite groups. The members of the elite were the educated members of society and held a strong belief that they were “better” than the common folks and therefore more prepared to evaluate and disseminate information.

Moral Responsibility is described as, the state when a person has a “moral obligation” to behave in a certain way. We can describe a person that has a moral responsibility to be an agent. An agent is such creature that has the ability to reflect on their situation, form intentions and act on those intentions.

There is an ongoing debate on whether moral responsibility requires free will or not. This stands at the midpoint of weather a person is responsible for their actions. In general, society holds the belief to be true that people are held responsible for their actions.

Now that we have previewed Common sense and Moral responsibility, exactly how do these concepts fit into our modern society? With all the information flowing back and forth these days, it can be hard to maintain good judgment and use “common sense” in our daily activities. The thing we need to do is to separate the good information from the bad, and then make morally correct decisions about the events in our lives. Not only is this a responsibility of society, but of the leaders and decision makers in our government.

It is each person’s responsibility to live their lives well, raise their children well, and teach them good morals. With the proper examples, we also can teach our children how to use good common sense in their decision making and to be morally correct in their lives. It is also the responsibility of the leaders to be moral and use good sense in their positions as lawmakers and leaders. If the politicians are corrupt or fail to use good sense, and the citizenry fails to use good common sense in watching the politicians, then the entire society loses.

In today’s world, many of our leaders are corrupt and seem to be in their positions for no other reason than to wield power and become insanely wealthy. The salaries, pensions, perks, vacations, sex scandals and a few other things all point to moral failure and a total lack of common sense. If one was to compare the leaders we have in congress and the house to the Founding Fathers of this country, it becomes horribly apparent that we have lost the morality that existed in the founders of this country.

Consider George Washington, James Madison Jr., Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and others. These men were human with all the frailties that go with that, but were able to conceive the ideas, draft the documents, build the infrastructure and create a “new world.” They had extraordinary sense and extreme moral beliefs. They trusted in one God and accepted that God as part of the new world’s ideal.

As we go through 2012 and beyond, what can we do as a society to change this dangerous direction? Will we collectively have the determination and imagination to create new morals and to build common sense back into the daily lives of our people? This remains to be seen, but if society does not regain its former level of morality, and if we allow the politicians and leaders to continue on the path they are taking, we are doomed to chaos. This sounds bad, it sounds like defeat, but it really is not. It is a wakeup call, a horn in the fog and we need to hear it and pay attention.