What would happen in the world, if wisdom were to become common sense? What would happen: if reason were to take precedence over emotions, if people would act instead of complain, if we would work harder at searching for common ground (rather than defending a position), if we would unite on principles of fairness, goodness, and would love rather than hate? What would happen? It's hard to imagine, isn't it? The departure from such things has been an incremental one. The return to such things, if it ever happens, will be an incremental one. We all have everything we need to start a renaissance, back to being civilized, just as a simple little acorn has everything in it to grow into an oak tree. Just add air, water and some nutrients, a little sunshine and voila. It starts with "one". It starts with many multiples of one. The age of information has become the age of misinformation. Truth, which should be ubiquitous, has become elusive and in some cases inaccessible and unattainable. Therefor, the information age has failed us. It is polluted and poisoned and fraught with delusion and deception. It is replete with opinions that are accepted as fact and with facts that are skewed, distorted, or biased in such a way that they become so convoluted that they are nearly impossible to unravel. Yet, they are accepted at face value, not exposed to hard evidence, devoid of any critical thinking, making more nebulous the division of what was once called "church and state". It is not politically correct to even be religious yet party members behave as if the party is the new religion. Now that we all have our own soap box upon which to stand and espouse our brilliant opinions, everyone has equal opportunity to make an utter fool of oneself. Observe for yourself the infantile attacks which follow posts and read the entire thread and you will see the immature and sophomoric stooges that political zealots have become. It's not only repulsive and disgusting, it is an insult to intelligence and embarrassing that individuals can be whipped into such a frenzy of belligerence. Nothing gets accomplished from the hate war. War accomplishes one thing only that is for certain and that thing is destruction. Whether it is a war of words or a war of nations, destruction will always be a guaranteed outcome. What can we do? Fighting is not the answer. That has failed. Incremental changes. Who wants to be hated? People want loving relationships in their personal lives. If you don't believe it, hang around some divorce courts for a while. If I am going to make it all about me, then I can start working on having more: understanding, tolerance, and love for others and for principles which support such things. I can look for the good in others, rather than attacking them for their thoughts, beliefs, and actions. BUT what if someone is filled with hate and driven to destroy others? What do we do with the sociopaths and psychopaths? What do you do with wild animals who would attack you or others? Give them space. Stay away. Defend yourself if and when necessary. Have things in place in society to protect ourselves from such people. The picture is HUGE but as individuals, politicians and politically driven people would prefer to make each person insignificantly small and unintelligent. Politics is filled with deception and delusion. It is about control and manipulation and it is sold as if it is for the good of the people but the people have become serfs and the royalty wants for the royalty what the royalty wants. The commonality between royalty of history and royalty now is wealth. There is much more alike than different between front running political candidates than they would EVER allow you to think. If you think the race for president of the U.S. has looked dirty up to this point, just wait and watch. But then again... What would happen in the world, if wisdom were to become common sense?
