This is one of the dumbest things that I have ever read.
An Obituary printed in the London Times -
Problem Number One. It's a Murdoch rag. Bear in mind that Fox News, his pride and joy tried to tie the NYC mosque-builder to a Saudi suspected of funding terrorism while conveniently neglecting to mention that that same Saudi is a partial owner of Fox News.
Fox also sued for and won the right to make shit up and report it as news. Bear this in mind.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
As expected, this is libertarian tripe. Red tape, bureaucracy, etc.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;
- Why the early bird gets the worm;
- Life isn't always fair;
- and Maybe it was my fault.
While not directly saying it, the article implies that these things have been lost. I think we still have these bits of wisdom, but there are popular jabs at how stupid other people are: crying "it's not fair" is a common slam against teenagers in the U.S., for example.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).
I can agree with point 1, but children in charge? What is that even supposed to mean?
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.
Libertarian bullshit that ignores what really happens when you don't have comprehensive laws and regulations. Overbearing regulations? Way to ignore the fact that unwinding regulations is what created this bubble and allowed newly unregulated financiers to throw the entire world into the worst financial crisis since the 30's.
Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate;
Where and when did this happen? First of all, you don't hit 6-year-olds with criminal charges; he was probably disciplined by his school. And they say "kissing", as far as we know he was a groper. You will see why I take this claim to be bullshit based on the others.
teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch;
Show me where it happened, if it did. Frankly, there's a pretty good chance the students involved in this hypothetical were getting drunk and covering it with mouthwash.
and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
This shit happens all the time. We have no idea what the reprimand was; as far as we know the teacher in this fictional incident made a racist or sexist comment, or even hit the kid.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.
Yeah, true.
It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Schools don't so much need this consent by law, but they require it for liability purposes. Giving aspirin to someone with a clotting condition can kill them. Parental consent passes the buck; if the parents say it's safe, they can't sue you. When you are responsible for a thousand walking lawsuits, you do common sense things like this.
As for the abortion issue, how is respecting a young woman's bodily autonomy and privacy in ANY WAY the same or related to looking out for a childs health? What the fuck?
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.
Agreed to churches as businesses, but "criminals receiving better treatment than their victims" is a fiction. Criminals have rights; at least in the U.S., we wrote a Constitution that fought malicious prosecution by governments. That we don't outright execute people for on accusations is what makes modern society great. Victim's aren't treated worse; the law simply doesn't treat victims at all.
Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.
Again, a gross misrepresentation. You can shoot or club home invaders. If you engage in unnecessary violence, you can be charged/sued. The law favors the homeowner, in this instance.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
This is truly revealing of the complete load of bullshit this entire article is. The lawsuit referenced is
Liebeck v. McDonalds. The victim realized that coffee was hot, and spilled more than a little bit in her lap by accident. She was found partially responsible for her own injuries and her award was reduced by that amount.
Here's what's damning about that lawsuit:
-McDonalds was serving coffee dozen of degrees about what was considered a safe temperature.
-McDonalds had received hundreds of complaints already about injuries related to their coffee
-The coffee in question was so hot that the woman suffered 3rd-degree burns to her genitals and had to get skin grafts.
-In the words of a McDonald company officer on the stand, McDonalds' coffee was "not fit for human consumption", give the temperature.
It's a commonly misrepresented and misunderstood suit, and the degree of snide sarcasm in this article's misrepresentation of the facts demonstrates a disturbing lack of consideration for intellectual honesty.
Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.
Like common sense, all of these things have always existed, and still do. Granted, we as humans fail in them all the time, but this is just nostalgia for a non-existent time when we were all perfect and everything was great.
He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim
Wait, knowing your rights is a bad thing? Think hard about these four statements portrayed as negatives. Some of them are sometimes true, though frequently cop outs. But "I know my rights"? That's a really good thing, and if you're saying it to someone who is trying to infringe your rights, that's called courage, not a lack of common sense.
This belongs in a chain email.
). When you get LinkedIn send me a PM and we can hook up. Again, my felicitations.
