As a species we tend to ignore rather than look to logic and common sense.

Whether it’s our local lives or nationally, they are often camouflaged or forgotten as we discuss and develop solutions to life’s issues. Change in circumstance, lack of factual information, political pressures and ego all conspire to hide what we already know.

It’s constructive to remind ourselves and it isn’t complex.

Many issues involve money.

Want to balance a budget? Just say no. Never easy, but that simple. Whether it be the household choosing not to buy another TV or a country not hiring more personnel to expand a program, it’s a choice. It’s called necessary and good decision-making.

At the very least, if the item is our No. 1 priority, a current expenditure must go away. It’s the one-in one-out concept. One additional expenditure requires one equal or larger to be eliminated. It’s the same process for government.

When we subsidize something, it will always increase in frequency and presence. This can be a desired goal, an unexpected negative consequence or both. Examples are obvious. Unemployment compensation. Because it’s present, the number quitting without getting another job, delaying looking, or refusing to work will increase. But it will help some people.

Subsidizing college loans without determining financial viability will increase dollars borrowed, facilitate bad educational decisions, and increase defaults. But it will help some graduate.

Subsidizing medical care through Medicaid will increase the number of people utilizing it, not buying insurance, either not working or limiting their work to stay financially eligible, and reduce motivation for preventative strategies. But it will be essential for some.

The same is true for SNAP (food stamps). Examples are endless.

Subsidizing is inherently discriminatory, not equality.

The converse is true. When you tax something we will get less of it. Income tax means less spending. property taxes mean less people purchasing a home. Tariffs means fewer imports. Fees are essentially a tax. Entrance tax means fewer people going to Yellowstone Park.

How can it be greedy to want to keep money you earn, but not greedy to expect to be given someone else’s money?

Many times, strategies not only ignore logic and common sense but are ironic.

USDA currently provides Food Stamps for 46 million people. The Department of Interior runs national parks and tells us not to feed the animals because they will not only expect, but become dependent upon it, accustomed to it, and not be motivated or know how to take care of themselves.

Often solutions are obvious. According to the Colorado Common Sense Institute, the percentage of educational budgets, both K-12 and post-secondary, spent on classroom teacher salaries has decreased from 41% in 2010 to 32.6% in 2023. It’s not surprising learning has decreased, and achievement scores are lower.

Thomas Jefferson: If serving in an elected office every becomes a career, corruption will surely follow.

We often make assumptions and use words incorrectly to promote our agendas.

Equality and equity are two different things. Same rights and responsibilities vs. fairness. A 120-pound person with a carry-on that weighs 2 pounds too much is charged an extra fee. A 300-pound person’s carry-on, that’s 2 pounds underweight doesn’t pay a fee.

Inclusion means including everyone. No exclusions, not excluding a specific group or characteristic.

We often need to realize the obvious.

There isn’t any such a thing as “clean energy.” The recent debate whether nuclear is clean energy has brought this to the forefront. It doesn’t matter if it’s nuclear, hydro, solar, oil, wind, or another it isn’t clean energy. Each type has its negative aspects and utilizes other energy. Utilization of any type requires energy usage to acquire the resource, creates infrastructure at its source, more infrastructure to get it to the consumer and generates waste after use. All types have ramifications, unintended consequences. All take land out of agricultural production or other human use; require infrastructure maintenance, and infrastructure with a limited useful life generating unrecyclable waste. Even human energy has waste. Think of what you did this morning.

It doesn’t do any good to hate an industry we come into contact with each and every day. We don’t have a choice. Energy is utilized in every aspect of our lives. Electricity is one small part. Energy is involved in every product, service, or activity we utilize. There isn’t any singular energy source that can approximate meeting all our energy needs which are growing at a geometric rate.

All our energy concerns whether they be acquisition, development, environmental or cost are valid. But rather than condemning it, we are better off spending our time, effort and money developing a replacement for each because each has a limit and most a finite quantity. Regarding oil alone, the most optimistic estimate is that the world has 90-110 years of oil left. Given its universality of use, our grandchildren require us to provide a viable substitute.

Even within the obvious, it’s still up to us. It’s a choice.

God provides feed for birds, but he doesn’t drop worms in their nest. God delivers, but he doesn’t expect us to lean on a shovel and pray for a hole.

It is our personal responsibility to use logic and inherent common sense not only in our personal decisions but in advocating for its use nationally. Consequently, we must demand possession of both be the No. 1 qualification for political office.

Bryan Whiting feels most of our issues are best solved by personal responsibility, common sense, and an understanding of non-Partisan economics rather than government intervention. Comments and column suggestions to: bwpersonalresponsibility@gmail.com.