The death of Common Sense

A Filipino balikbayan reader of The Philippine STAR recently e-mailed this sad news about the untimely death of Common Sense in the US. This writer begs to disagree. Did Common Sense really die over there in Bush country, or here in our beautiful but perennially in crises archipelago? It is very possible Common Sense had actually died here in our republic, where politics has decisively triumphed over economics. Where winning elections and mass popularity have become more important than doing what is economically correct. Where coffee-shop talk and network news are all about who’s running in the elections and not who’s investing in what new factory or how much our exports are this year. Where the feeble Philippine peso exchange rate and anemic stock markets have become a hostage to our unpredictable political fortunes. Where the government’s population policy is dictated not by what’s good for the public but by how a group of influential bishops might react.

Triumph Of Politics Over Economics

Has Common Sense perished in our land and adversely affected our economy, where our democracy seems deteriorating into "demo-crazy" with so many EDSA revolts and with elections becoming mindless celebrity popularity contests, where a lot of showbiz people and comedians wish to change their professions and become politicians because many of our bureaucrats and politicians are busy entertaining the people or making speeches rather than administering and serving? Has Common Sense died here in Asia’s most staunchly Catholic nation, where we have so much moral degradation and the most un-Christian crimes and the most terrible corruption that has even made it to the Guinness Book of World Records? How come the Spanish and American colonizers described Filipinos as very clean due to daily baths and well-swept homes, but many of our cities, streets, rivers and esteros are choking with so much rubbish and trash nowadays?

The Inability To Grow Rice And Manage Economy

Is Common Sense dead here, where the republic is home to the world’s most prestigious International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) where a lot of Asian agriculturists learned to plant rice but we have never graduated from being a hopeless rice importer? How come Metro Manila is home to the famous Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in posh Makati which has trained so many of Asia’s top economic managers and business leaders, but the Philippine economy has consistently fallen behind as the laggard nation of ASEAN and East Asia in terms of investor confidence, exports, industrial productivity and overall economic progress?

Is Common Sense already dead in our republic, where we have perhaps the most number of lawyers in all Asia, the most numerous enacted laws, but lawlessness has been so brazen and prevalent, and many of our people fear our very own law enforcers? Is it possible that Common Sense died here, for how then can we explain the harsh reality that many ASEAN economies have already left behind the Philippine economy, and that even former war-ravaged, once internationally-isolated and now still ideologically Socialist Vietnam had already surpassed our economy in terms of foreign investments, tourist arrivals, population growth management, steel production, rice production, agricultural growth, industrial expansion and other indicators?

Has Common Sense killed itself in the Philippines, for how do we explain the irony that our local labor unions (always threatening labor unrest and strikes to paralyze our industries) are ideologically socialist, but their ideological cousins in China and Vietnam today have outdone the rabid capitalists of America by their banning of all strikes in the booming industrial estates and economic zones of Shenzhen, Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong or Ho Chi Minh City?

It is very plausible that Common Sense died here in our struggling republic, where political leaders had years ago opened up whole sectors of the economy to globalization with "indecent haste," allowing the demise of local industries unlike Mahathir’s Malaysia or China, turning a blind eye to rampant smuggling, while these same politicians are always jumping like chimpanzees and cheering the massive outflow of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who labor and bring in foreign exchange to sustain our economy. Common Sense seemed to have died here in our country, where many politicians for decades do not know how to spend less than what our government earns per year, where big-time crooks and corrupt giants go up the political ladder while small-time thieves or petty criminals are jailed, where many horrible shenanigans go unpunished, where wealth and power seem far more important than morality and ethics.

How Common Sense Died In The Land Of Uncle Sam

Here is the reader’s eulogy to the death of Common Sense.

"Common Sense lived a long life, but died in the United States from heart failure early in the new millennium. No one really knows how old he was, since his birth records were lost long ago in bureaucratic red tape. He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes, and factories, helping folks get jobs done without fanfare and foolishness.

For decades, petty rules, silly laws, and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, and that life isn’t always fair.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (‘Don’t spend more than you earn’), reliable parenting strategies (‘The adults are in charge, not the kids’), and it’s okay to come in second.

A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and the Technological Revolution, Common Sense survived cultural and educational trends including body piercing, whole language, and ‘new math.’

But his health declined when he became infected with the ‘If-it-only-helps-one-person-it-is-worth-it’ virus.

In recent decades, his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of well-intentioned but overbearing regulations. He watched in pain as good people were controlled by self-serving lawyers.

His health rapidly deteriorated when schools endlessly implemented zero tolerance policies. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teen suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student.

It declined even further when schools had to get parental consent to administer aspirin to a student but could not inform the parent when a female student was pregnant or wanted an abortion.

Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than victims, and federal judges stuck their noses in everything from the Boy Scouts to professional sports.

When an individual, too stupid to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, was awarded a huge settlement, Common Sense threw in the towel.

As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding questionable regulations such as those for low-flow toilets, rocking chairs, stepladders and auto emissions.

Common Sense finally succumbed when, while the United States was fighting a war on terrorism, a federal judge declared the Pledge of Allegiance to be unconstitutional.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepsiblings – My Rights, I’m Entitled and I’m a Whiner. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone."

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A friend of the sender, Philip, responded to this eulogy to Common Sense, with this message also e-mailed to this column:

"Seems the equivalent phenomenon applies to Pinas, as much as in other countries. One suspects its extent is directly proportionate to the influence western socio-cultural and economic beliefs and practices pervade the given society, in today’s dollar- and tech-driven world that is dominantly US-swayed.

Reminiscent of the proverbial frog brought to a boil in subtly but graduated increments of applied heat, the victims of the phenomena in tragically large numbers transcend the socio-economic spectrum. They, we, end up not even realizing that they/we can’t see, that they/we can’t see what it has and continues to transform them/us into, despite already sensing and seeing that there is something anomalous in their/our lives and circumstances. Ain’t self-denial a wonderful thing?

Instead, they/we heedlessly continue plunging into relativism and materialism, drowned in instant gratification and parochial mind-sets, albeit at the same time lamenting what’s become of people and things. In anguish they/we cry out desperately, point their/our fingers at the most convenient targets yet refuse to confront the person they/we face each day in their/our mirrors. Ain’t self-denial deadly?

Isn’t it time that all the politicians, entrepreneurs, scholars, economists and other so-called leaders in all sectors of our long suffering republic woke up to the harsh reality that Common Sense is near death in the Philippines, and that we need more reforms, more decisive actions, less rhetoric, less illusions, less rubbish of nonsense?"

If Common Sense has not yet died here in the Philippines, and it is just critically ill in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) or in a rundown pauper’s clinic, can we muster the political will to save it from certain death?

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Thank you very much for your numerous messages. Send comments or suggestions to wilson_lee_flores@yahoo.com or wilson_lee_flores@hotmail.com or P.O. Box 14277, Ortigas Center, Pasig City