There happen to be a few fundamental truths which may not have acquired proverbial dimensions, but can simply not be denied, dismissed or denounced. For example, to divide a nation is far easier than to unite it. It is neither a proverb, nor some sage’s saying. Yet so very very true.
For example again, to ignite a conflict is so much less demanding than to resolve it. And to set our ammunition depot ablaze is infinitely simpler than to bring the consequences under control.
One has not to go back to any Aristotle or any Homer or any Herodotus to be educated into all these truths and their likes. All that is required is common sense.
But there is a problem here.
The phrase ‘common sense’ happens to be so misleading!
By its sound and structure, the phrase should mean ‘that form of wisdom’ which is so common that it is readily available. You don’t have even to ask for it.
On the contrary, as Bertrand Russell once wrote, common sense is so rare and so uncommon a commodity that most of those with power and wealth in their possession, find it unnecessarily bothersome to go into its quest. The easier course for them is to rely on their power and their wealth to do what ‘common sense’ is supposed to do.
Unluckily for them, they are on the wrong side of history. Whosoever ever made the mistake of considering power as an adequate substitute for common sense, paid quite a heavy price.
It is said that in a game of chess, the players are always ‘prisoners’ to their first move. The move they first make prompts a counter move, and all subsequent moves are virtually pre-decided. To win from a wrong First Move is largely considered unlikely. Yet those who earn the title of ‘Grand Masters’ happen to be those who have enough common sense to sense early that they have made a wrong move, and that their best chance of winning lies in an early damage control exercise.
(This Column was first published on 07-05-2007)
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