82 Years — 82 Lessons
When Did Common Sense Become So Uncommon in America?
By Michael Cunningham Sr. | Mike's Observations
There was a time in America when you didn't need a college degree to recognize a bad idea. You just needed a little common sense.
I'm 82 years old, and I've lived long enough to see some remarkable changes in this country.
I've watched America put men on the moon, develop computers smaller than a deck of cards, and create machines that can practically think for themselves.
But somewhere along the way, I believe we misplaced something that used to come naturally.
Common sense.
And the strangest part is that the more information we have at our fingertips, the less wisdom we sometimes seem to demonstrate.
Back When Common Sense Was Just Called Thinking
When I was growing up, nobody had to explain certain things.
If you touched a hot stove, you got burned.
If you spent more money than you earned, you went broke.
If you didn't work, you didn't get paid.
If you disrespected your parents, there were consequences.
And if you made a foolish decision, you generally had to live with the results.
We didn't call these things life lessons, emotional development, or behavioral interventions.
We called them growing up.
Now, don't misunderstand me. Those weren't perfect times. We made mistakes, and some of the things we accepted back then needed changing.
But we understood something important.
Life has consequences, whether we like them or not.
Have We Confused Education With Intelligence?
America has more educational opportunities and access to information than any generation before us could have imagined.
Yet I sometimes wonder whether we're teaching people how to think or simply what to think.
A person can have three college degrees and still lack the judgment to come in out of the rain.
Meanwhile, an old farmer with an eighth-grade education may understand more about responsibility, economics, human nature, and survival than someone who has spent twenty years in a classroom.
I've worked with men in the oilfields who could diagnose a mechanical problem by listening to an engine.
They didn't need a computer to tell them something was wrong.
They used experience, observation, and good judgment.
That's intelligence, too.
Education is valuable. But education without practical wisdom is like owning a toolbox and not knowing which end of the hammer to hold.
When Did Personal Responsibility Become Optional?
This one really bothers me.
It seems that whenever something goes wrong today, somebody immediately starts looking for someone else to blame.
The government.
The employer.
The school.
The neighbor.
The previous generation.
Anybody except the person looking back from the mirror.
Now, there are legitimate injustices in this world. Sometimes people are genuinely mistreated or denied opportunities.
But that doesn't erase our responsibility for the decisions we make.
When I served in the United States Marine Corps, I learned a lesson that stayed with me for life.
You are responsible for your actions, and excuses don't change the outcome.
That principle followed me into business, the oilfields, marriage, raising a family, and everything else I've done.
I haven't always made the right decisions.
Far from it.
But when I made a mistake, the first thing I needed to do was admit it.
You can't correct a problem while pretending somebody else caused every part of it.
Have We Made Life Too Complicated?
Sometimes I look at the world today and shake my head.
We have instructions telling us that coffee is hot.
We have warnings on products about things that should be obvious.
We have organizations that spend months studying problems ordinary people could identify in five minutes.
And we have politicians who can give a forty-minute speech without answering a simple question.
Good grief!
I'm beginning to think common sense ought to be taught as a required subject in every school in America.
The first lesson could be:
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The second:
If you can't afford it, don't buy it.
And the third:
Before opening your mouth, make sure your brain is engaged.
That last one might save the country a considerable amount of trouble.
Technology Has Made Us Smarter—and Sometimes More Foolish
I enjoy technology.
I'm 82 years old, and I use computers, artificial intelligence, digital publishing, and social media.
I believe these inventions offer tremendous opportunities.
But I've also noticed something troubling.
People will believe almost anything they see on a screen.
A ridiculous rumor can travel around the world before anyone bothers checking whether it's true.
Someone posts a dramatic headline, and thousands of people repeat it without reading the article.
We've become so accustomed to instant answers that we sometimes forget to ask intelligent questions.
Artificial intelligence can process mountains of information.
But it cannot relieve us of the responsibility to exercise judgment.
Technology should help us think better, not become an excuse to stop thinking.
What Happened to Raising Children With Common Sense?
When I was a boy, children were expected to learn responsibility.
We had chores.
We learned to respect other people.
We discovered that the world didn't revolve around our personal happiness.
And we learned that disappointment was part of life.
Today, I sometimes wonder whether adults are so determined to protect children from failure that we're preventing them from learning how to succeed.
Children need love, encouragement, protection, and understanding.
But they also need boundaries.
They need to hear the word "no."
They need to understand that actions have consequences.
And they need opportunities to solve problems without an adult immediately rushing in to rescue them.
A child who never learns to handle disappointment may become an adult who expects the world to remove every obstacle.
That's not preparing children for life.
That's preparing them to be disappointed by it.
Government Can't Replace Common Sense
Here's another observation that might ruffle a few feathers.
Government has legitimate responsibilities, and good laws protect people.
But government cannot legislate wisdom into the human heart.
It cannot make every decision for every citizen.
And it certainly cannot eliminate every risk associated with living.
Sometimes we seem to expect government to solve problems that begin with individual choices, families, communities, and personal responsibility.
Then we complain when government becomes too involved in our lives.
There's a contradiction worth thinking about.
A free society requires people who are willing to accept responsibility for their freedom.
Without that responsibility, freedom becomes increasingly difficult to preserve.
Common Sense Also Requires Compassion
Now, before somebody accuses me of wanting to return to the 1950s, let me make something clear.
Common sense doesn't mean being cruel.
It doesn't mean refusing to help people who are struggling.
It doesn't mean rejecting new ideas simply because they're new.
And it certainly doesn't mean that older people are always right.
Believe me, I've met plenty of foolish people my own age.
Common sense means looking at a situation honestly, considering the consequences, listening to people who know what they're talking about, and making a reasonable decision.
Sometimes the sensible thing is to stand firm.
Sometimes it's to compromise.
And sometimes it's to admit that what we've always believed may need another look.
That's not weakness.
That's wisdom.
The Bible Had Something to Say About This Long Ago
As a Christian, I believe wisdom begins with recognizing that we don't know everything.
Proverbs 14:15 says:
"The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going." — KJV
Think about that.
Thousands of years ago, Scripture warned against believing everything we hear.
Today, with social media, artificial intelligence, political propaganda, and endless opinions competing for our attention, that advice seems more relevant than ever.
The Bible also reminds us that wisdom is something worth seeking.
Not merely knowledge.
Not popularity.
Not the approval of the crowd.
Wisdom.
And wisdom often begins with humility.
My 82-Year-Old Observation
After eight decades of living, working, raising a family, building businesses, losing things I worked hard for, and starting over more than once, I've reached a simple conclusion.
Common sense hasn't disappeared from America. We've just become too willing to ignore it.
We ignore it when it conflicts with what we want.
We ignore it when somebody tells us what we'd rather hear.
We ignore it when admitting the truth would require us to change our behavior.
And sometimes we ignore it because following the crowd is easier than standing alone.
But common sense is still there.
In the farmer who knows you can't harvest what you never planted.
In the mechanic who knows a broken machine won't repair itself.
In the parent who understands that love sometimes requires discipline.
In the worker who knows that a good day's pay deserves a good day's work.
And in the ordinary American who still believes honesty, responsibility, faith, and hard work matter.
Maybe America doesn't need another thousand experts telling us how to live.
Maybe we need to recover some of the practical wisdom our parents and grandparents tried to teach us.
Because here's something I've learned in 82 years:
You can have all the knowledge in the world, but if you don't have the sense to use it wisely, you're still in trouble.
And that, my friends, is just plain common sense.
One Last Question
When did common sense become so uncommon in America—and what do you believe we should do to bring it back?
Was it when parents stopped holding children accountable? When schools changed? When politicians began promising solutions to everything? Or when we started believing everything we saw on the internet?
I'd genuinely like to hear your opinion.
Visit the Contact page at mikesobservations.com and tell me what you think.
Michael Cunningham Sr.
82 Years — 82 Lessons
Eight Decades of Faith · Service · Adventure · A Life Well Lived
