When the word “common sense” becomes scary

“It is an obvious common sense decision.” This phrase often resonates in the speeches and announcements of US President Donald Trump. It doesn’t just come from his lips; many right-wing leaders use it, but when he uses it, the effects can be planetary.

Apart from the discussion, repeated many times over, that there are few — if any —  “simple” things in politics, particularly in foreign policy — this attitude alone is a reason for concern —  what scares me most is the word “common sense,” which, according to the Treccani dictionary, is the “natural, instinctive ability to judge rightly.” Well, this is not the case in politics. Instead, it is a populist verbal tool to prove to citizens that the choice made is reasonable — so obvious, indisputable, and evident to everyone except those (the bad influences) who have governed before and those who disagree.

The problem is that “common sense” does not always point in the same direction, especially in this field. Instead, it assumes ever-changing meanings, which often become obscure, but as it is  “common sense,” they do not need to be explained. For example, it is obvious that stopping a war is common sense, but how to halt it is not. There are a thousand ways to silence weapons and, therefore, a thousand prices to be paid by the citizens involved.

Using the word “common sense,” Trump convinced Americans that it is necessary to make America “great again.” But what does that mean in a country that has low inflation, very low unemployment, energy independence, the strongest currency in the world, and has about a quarter of the world’s GDP? A head of government can — and should –legitimately work on making the country grow — it is their duty and a matter of “common sense.” But, even here, if you tell your citizens that things are badly and you have, like Trump, great appeal, they will believe you and think they live in a country in decline. Clearly, not everyone in the US lives the good life, but to say the country is in crisis is not telling the truth — it is distorting “common sense.”

If the US reached where it is, it is not by chance; it was because dozens of presidents before Trump were able to lead the country toward a goal of world leadership that was shared by its citizens. They did so by tackling the real difficulties and challenges they faced, not by creating imaginary situations that would lead to outcomes opposite to those achieved. For example, I rememberRonald Reagan’s last speechas president, when he explained that thanks to “new Americans” — immigrants — the US would remain a world leader and that this was the country’s great strength. “Thanks to this, we continuously renew and enrich our nation,” he said before warning:  ” If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.”Reagan was not a leftist or a centrist — he was a conservative. However, he realized that the issues are complex. It is not “common sense” to stop immigrants to free up jobs or end petty crime. He knew that it was a matter of management — complex but one that had to be managed for the country’s good.

So, “common sense” does not exist. There are choices — useful or not, right or wrong — but they are always complex. In politics, the goal is not to dazzle, but to lead.