Cyndi's Two Cents

Common sense can’t be legislated

Commentary.

One of the founders of the company for which I work became well known in his later years for pointing out the lack of common sense in today’s society. Although Derry Brownfield had not been an owner of Brownfield Ag News since 1984, it still bears his name. There were times over the years when Derry would let me know in no uncertain terms that he was none too pleased with some of the programming decisions I had made, and that perhaps I was letting “big ag” influence my decisions. I would explain that I was determined to cover all sides of a news story and that meant big ag, small farms and everything in between. He would just smile and shake his head. I wasn’t going to change his mind and he wasn’t going to change mine, and that was alright.

Derry passed away a year ago March 11, but I can still hear his voice as clear as a bell in my memories, “Why, that’s just ignorance gone to seed.”

I agree with Derry in that common sense – or as we always called it growing up – good old fashioned horse sense – is lacking in many aspects in today’s society. You don’t have to look far and you don’t have to look hard to find examples:

I wish someone could tell me why the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) requires me to purchase flood insurance for a barn on my property that sits at an elevation that will only be flooded if it rains for 40 days and 40 nights and said rainfall is of Biblical proportions.

Why is it that anti-animal agriculture and animal rights groups are recognized and influential in determining how animals are treated on farms? Why is it that those who don’t eat meat and don’t want us to eat meat have a voice in how meat animals are fed, watered, sheltered, transported and processed?

Why do my tax dollars go toward the groceries for the woman standing in line in front of me while she pays cash for cigarettes, whiskey (not the cheap kind), the latest gossip magazine and lottery tickets?

If people want to buy and sell and drink raw milk, fine. Let them. But you and I shouldn’t have to pay their medical bills when they are lying in a hospital bed suffering from an illness brought on by a bacteria that could have been killed if the milk had been pasteurized.

Why is it that in a country founded on religious freedom are our children not allowed to pray in school?

I think we have too many laws. I think we have too much government. At some point, the citizens of this great nation are going to have to be accountable for their actions or lack thereof. Let’s face it: You can’t legislate the laziness, irresponsibility, carelessness, meanness, selfishness and stupidity out of people.

You can’t legislate common sense.