by the tens of thousands and across the globe and the years by the hundreds of millions? From Paris to Oakland Istanbul to Iraq, Tehran to Ukraine, New York to Bangkok, Lebanon to Bahrain,

2—Common Sense “I speak the pass-word primeval, I give the sign of democracy” —Walt Whitman, from Leaves of Grass [Whitman’s words above serve here as an epigraph to the rest of this piece] From Tahrir to Tiananmen, Lafayette to Trafalgar, why have the People protested, together,

duty (unity — connection — love), ironically, to our ancestors—but also to our contemporaries, to all of the children whom they or we might have, their children, their children, the eternal hum—

Our wellbeing and the wellbeing of all future generations depend upon our personal decision to think bigger and beyond our boundaries, and they depend upon this...

To come of age this way, at any age, one must mostly leave, though we rode it here, the legacy of the human animal’s, or human creation’s, past in its place, especially when and where it is examined and found to harm others—obvious self-defense and the honest and selfless defense of others aside.

But, when we stop allowing OURSELVES to be spoon-fed and pre-judicial, and when we decide for ourselves and then reassess openly via democratic dialogue what seems beneficial, benevolent, worthwhile, or sound, then with both uncommon and common sense we discover the beautiful beyond.

In addition, our present paradigms are mostly ugly, puny prisons.

A closed mind is perhaps the most dangerous thing in the world and is most dangerous, paradoxically, to the people and the world outside of it.

in a very serious way that is both tragic and yet avoidable and is oftentimes one of those paradigms which tells us, “I cannot be openly questioned, and, questioners, you are blasphemous, un-_______, sub-_______, other, scum, other-scum!”

That which is unexamined (yes, beyond the known world and the known cosmos, but particularly that which exists in our mind or in the products and byproducts of our community of minds and yet is not examined thoroughly) can easily be harmful

When we close off our minds from new ideas, new concepts, new worldviews, or the perspectives of others, our minds begin to atrophy, begin to become ill, become a danger to everyone, and begin to die.

For, tradition for tradition’s own sake is the brake that stops breakthrough, creativity, progress, discovery, justice, equality.

yokes from which one’s quests to educate oneself about what exists and about what has existed—and about what is yet possible— within and without, necessitate freeing oneself and others) unless vital to our wellbeings, such as learning how some communities have lived on the Earth sustainably.

(politics, religion, and such, programs others have written upon our neurons, without our permission, prior to and during the first days and years that we blossomed into the cosmos and into consciousness,

examines those limitations, examines the cosmos beyond them, and pieces together, as a duty to humanity, a firsthand paradigm that resists relying upon others’ preestablished rigidities

uncommon sense, the true intelligence of the individual, is marked by the degree to which one refuses and outgrows the limitations of one’s family and culture,

1 — Uncommon Sense From generation to generation, human beings have been passing along, through family and culture, a host of hatreds, restrictive worldviews, and other ill, narrow thoughts. However,

Next, "Uncommon Sense Plus Common Sense (True Democracy: Article V, Written in Lines)"

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Therefore, let’s strengthen our sacred, collective, democratic powers. For, we too are ingenious. Together, let’s consummate the Enlightenment and let’s grow more enlightened than ever.

We all deserve (and have always deserved) for our entire democratic system to be better, and the voices that help us to become more representative of our entirety are typically the ones who have striven the hardest to better democracy. Democracy does not self-improve magically — face it.

How about a Constitution and all other legislation that includes the voices of citizens without much money?

Do we not deserve legislation and numerous constitutional amendments that have proportional input by women, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, API Americans, and Native Americans, in order to put our laws and our Constitution more into balance with our population?

moreover, has not our ostensible government by the People been, in many respects, bought and sold right out from under us? Together, though, let’s continue to grow toward the light and to grow much deeper.

Frequently, we have to change the system somewhat to make it more effective, to empower more of the People, to make the system more inclusive, more accessible, fairer, more equitable, truer, more user-friendly, more just, and less corrupt—

Yet, not until we treat the least of these, the least well-treated, the least rewarded, with the best shall we perfect our covenant.

The Constitution originally enshrined slavery, treated Native Americans and Black people as subhuman (treated an enslaved person, for example, as three-fifths of a person), and treated women as second-class citizens without the right to vote. Face it: Our history includes much oppression—tyranny.

Those framers themselves, fortunately, recognized at least some of that which is why legislation and representation are continuous endeavors of the nation and why the Constitution is amendable and able to evolve. Times change; geography changes; technology changes; and the People change.

beyond their most egregious faults, the framers were, unfortunately, also not very representative of all of the inhabitants of this land, and the system resulting from their efforts was not naturally timeless nor—with all of its faults—perfect.

The Enlightenment begat, for Americans and beyond, an inspirational Constitution and country, and the framers of our Constitution and country were — for all of their faults — collectively ingenious, but,