Follow your spleen ~ By Patrice Lewis

So what to do when your internal organs conflict with each other?

The early Chinese felt the spleen was the central organ in charge of life-sustaining postnatal energy, directing the critical flow of nutrients to keep the body functioning. So in this absurd metaphor of organ function, I've decided to assign a new responsibility to the spleen: issuing common sense. Common sense, you see, is an intelligent balance between head and heart.

You've heard the phrase "follow your heart" ad nauseum, I am sure. Patrice Lewis expounds on why we shouldn't only "follow our heart" in making critical decisions in life, and how it can lead to bad things. Just think about all the people who followed their hearts when they voted for Barack Hussein Obama, and look how that worked out! (No, Patrice doesn't say that in her column... That was my own editorial example.)

Follow your spleen

PATRICE LEWIS

By Patrice Lewis

January 01, 2011 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2011

Recently, my daughters and I were at a friend's house where a television was on (we don't get TV reception in our home). The girls, instantly mesmerized by the idiot box, stared at whatever dribble was showing. But since my kids have been raised without that questionable medium, they are much more critical of what they see on the screen.

Since it was shortly before Christmas, everything – from advertisements to previews of upcoming shows to the program itself – was Christmas themed. The overall message the TV station attempted to convey was holiday warmth and mushiness mixed with commercialism. "Follow your heart!" gushed an announcer's voice.

At once both my girls started making gagging noises. "I hate that term!" exclaimed my oldest, who just turned 15. "It's because people follow their hearts that they have so many problems!"

Out of the mouth of babes. I realized my sensible teen had nailed it.

I will now embark on a series of mangled metaphors that will make any physician nauseous, but bear with me.

It recent years, feelings – classically described as originating from the heart – have become gods. It's gotten to the point where how you feel supersedes rational thought. These feelings – following your heart – are not always the best guide for proper action and behavior.

When you think about it, how many times has following your heart gotten you into trouble? Your heart might say this is a great guy to marry (he's handsome, sexy and buys you roses) but your head knows he's risky (he's been married four times, had an affair while you were dating and can't keep a job).

Your heart might fall for your brother's latest plea for a loan – after all, isn't he family? – but your head knows darned good and well he's going to fritter the money away and ask for another loan next month.

See my point? Simply put, the heart is seldom a good judge of what should be done.

In the last 40 years, feelings have become supreme. We used to be guided by sensible documents such as the Bible and the Constitution. Now those sources are deemed too pitiless, too much at odds with the warm gushy feelings that rule society. Today we take our guidance from People magazine and Oprah.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

Be sure to check out
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear!

The death of common sense ~ By Patrice Lewis

Patrice concludes this column by saying, "This ain't rocket science, folks. It's just common sense. Remember, stupidity is a choice." The choices we make in life are either made with common sense, or with stupidity. There really is no other kind of choice that we can make.

And when you read this outstanding column by Patrice, you may find out that our government doesn't seem to be coming up with common sense solutions to problems, and in fact, it seems that they actually encourage stupid choices. Just sayin'...

As my brother once noted, if you totally "fork up" and become a "victim," you're a hero. You receive praise for the hardships you've "overcome." You get elected. You can write books. You get free housing and medical care. But if you're constantly responsible in life, you get nothing. No praise, no accolades, no talk-show circuit.

In other words, we've gotten to the point where bad choices and irresponsibility are rewarded. Good choices and personal responsibility are ignored at best, penalized at worst.

By Patrice Lewis

Posted: April 17, 2010 ~ 1:00 am Eastern

© 2010

When I was growing up, my mother often lamented how uncommon common sense was. For years she hammered into my head that education or beauty or intelligence or other blessings will only go so far unless someone has the common sense to make decent decisions in life.

Now that I'm grown up, I see the wisdom – dare I say, the common sense – of her words.

I've written before how continually astounded I am by how stupid people choose to be. Because, make no mistake, stupidity is a choice.

To me, it makes perfect sense to, say, choose a decent person to marry. Your spouse will have a great impact on your future life (duh). So why would you marry the wrong person in spite of the massive red flags waving in your face? If you married a handsome stud with a reputation for womanizing, why do you later whine that you "didn't know" he would sleep around or you "thought you could make a difference" in his habits or attitudes that have been ingrained since adolescence?

I'm not saying people can't change for the better. I'm saying it's stupid to marry someone whose morals or behavior doesn't bode well for your future happiness. Where's the common sense?

Why would someone decide not to wear a seatbelt when driving? Is the thought of being thrown from a rolling vehicle more attractive than the minor confinement a seatbelt requires? Where's the common sense?

Why would a woman choose to sleep around? Doesn't she know sex can result in unwanted pregnancies, which then require the making of difficult, heart-wrenching or immoral decisions? Where's the common sense?

Why would someone purchase a house with a mortgage far beyond his ability to pay? Just because a banker says you're "qualified" is no excuse for taking on a half-million dollar home when you work as a janitor. (No kidding, I know someone who did that.) Yes, I know this is a harsh economy, but a lot of people are in trouble simply because they bit off more than they could chew. Where's the common sense?

I have a great interest in the concept of Simplicity. Contrary to popular belief, a simple life doesn't mean you hug trees and live in a log cabin. No, a simple life means you strive to make good choices. Common sense – making good choices – is one of the most under-appreciated factors in keeping your life steady in a complex world.

And the repercussions can be profound. How much simpler would your life have been if you'd listened to the wisdom of your elders instead of barging down the road of your own selfish whims? How much easier would your life have been if you hadn't married the womanizer, hadn't slept around, had worn your seatbelt or had rented an apartment instead of "buying" a McMansion?

Look, life is tough enough as it is. Things get thrown in our paths that are entirely outside our control. How much easier would it be to handle the unexpected obstacles if we've already laid a solid foundation of common sense and sound choices?

When life throws you a monkey wrench – when you face a devastating illness or suffer through a natural disaster – how much better would you fare if you already have a solid bedrock of faith, a happy family life, no debts, a preparedness mentality and other tools for coping? What I'm trying to say is, much of life's difficulties – even those beyond our mortal control – can often be mitigated by common sense before, during and after the difficulty. It drives me nuts to see people make stupid choices and then wonder why they have it so tough.

Worse, our society now encourages us to make stupid decisions without consequences. Pregnant? Here's a welfare check. Massive mortgage? Here's relief from the government. Unemployed but prefer to go fishing rather than look for work? We'll extend unemployment benefits for another week. Month. Year.

READ FULL STORY at WorldNetDaily.com

Be sure to check out
johnny2k's Tea Party Gear!

Profits derived from your purchases
will help me to attend tea party rallies!

The great escape from responsibility ~ By Thomas Sowell

From WorldNetDaily

By Thomas Sowell Posted: August 25, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 Many of the issues of our times are hard to understand without understanding the vision of the world that they are part of. Whether the particular issue is education, economics or medical care, the preferred explanation tends to be an external explanation – that is, something outside the control of the individuals directly involved. Education is usually discussed in terms of the money spent on it, the teaching methods used, class sizes or the way the whole system is organized. Students are discussed largely as passive recipients of good or bad education. But education is not something that can be given to anybody. It is something that students either acquire or fail to acquire. Personal responsibility may be ignored or downplayed in this "non-judgmental" age, but it remains a major factor, nevertheless. After many students go through a dozen years in the public schools, at a total cost of $100,000 or more per student – and emerge semi-literate and with little understanding of the society in which they live, much less the larger world and its history – most discussions of what is wrong leave out the fact that many such students may have chosen to use school as a place to fool around, act up, organize gangs or even peddle drugs. The great escape of our times is escape from personal responsibility for the consequences of one's own behavior. Differences in infant mortality rates provoke pious editorials on a need for more prenatal care to be provided by the government for those unable to afford it. In other words, the explanation is automatically assumed to be external to the mothers involved, and the solution is assumed to be something that "we" can do for "them." [READ ENTIRE COLUMN]

Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, Calif. He is the author of 28 books, including "Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy."

How free Americans became pigs at a trough ~ By Patrice Lewis

From WorldNetDaily

By Patrice Lewis Posted: August 29, 2009 ~ 1:00 am Eastern © 2009 I frequently receive e-mails from readers professing admiration for our (ahem) "simple" life. (For those unfamiliar with our lifestyle, we have a homestead farm, a home business, and we homeschool our kids.) What many people don't understand is the sheer hard work the "simple" life entails. Difficult? Undoubtedly. Worth it? Unquestionably. We live this way because we're big believers in personal responsibility. We try to be responsible for every major aspect of our lives – our jobs, finances, health care, food and children's education. To us, it's simply what grown-ups do. Apparently, that's what makes us different. It's not that we live rural or milk a cow – it's that we're independent. Do you have any idea – any inkling at all – how much more streamlined our nation would be if everyone preferred independence and refused to allow others, especially the government, to be our mommies and daddies? Thomas Sowell had a superb article this week on the issue of personal responsibility. "Whether the particular issue is education, economics or medical care," he wrote, "the preferred explanation tends to be an external explanation – that is, something outside the control of the individuals directly involved." External. That means you've shoved the responsibility for your education, your income or your medical care onto someone else. [READ ENTIRE COLUMN!]

My recommendation: What will it take to restore common sense and rein in out-of-control government? Get Glenn Beck's latest book, inspired by Founding Father Thomas Paine, "Common Sense".