Making sense of common sense

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By Jason Winders
Thursday, January 6, 2011
I see great opportunity in this so-called ‘Common Sense Revolution’ sweeping the globe.
 
Not in the tenets of the revolution itself, mind you. Those are doomed. Like ‘pretty,’ ‘smart’ or ‘fun to be around,’ ‘common sense’ is a trait most accurately bestowed upon you by others and rarely fulfills its promise when bestowed on oneself by oneself. So pardon me if I fear these self-appointed ‘common sense’ revolutionaries as I would wager they will prove to possess nothing in common with sense at all.
 
No, the opportunity in this revolution comes for those of us blessed to pick up the pieces of their poor judgment.
 
Originating in the 1990s, the ‘Common Sense Revolution’ was the brainchild of uber-Republican strategist Mike Murphy during a New Jersey gubernatorial campaign. Former Ontario Premier Mike Harris elevated the slogan to policy during his time in office. And now, it has been co-opted across the globe to provide cover for politicians seeking to slash budgets in the name of ‘responsibility’ and ‘austerity.’
 
A ‘Common Sense Revolution’ has taken hold in Ireland, France, Spain, even Greece.
In my homeland, one house of Congress has swung and another narrowed mainly due to the influence of the Tea Party, a band of hyper-conservatives grown out of a stated response to runaway government spending, and an unstated response to a black president. They guarantee, starting this week, a ‘Common Sense Revolution’ in the United States.
 
For all its historic failings, this time, they promise, it will be different.
 
That fact remains to be seen. However, we have seen – right here on Western’s campus – the fallout from these revolutions and the wonderful opportunities they provide those of us who keep our heads in troubled times.
 
Witness Adrian Owen, who starts his work on Western’s campus as we speak.
 
Last year, Owen left the funding chaos of the United Kingdom to join Western. And we couldn’t be happier. Landing one of neuroscience’s brightest stars will cement this university’s reputation for decades to come.
 
But Owen represents another legacy, one that is just beginning worldwide.
 
“U.K. science is going through a period of uncertainty, and many of my more senior colleagues said this might not be a bad time to be leaving," Owen told The Guardian (U.K.) newspaper in May. “There’s nobody in the U.K. putting down $20 million saying, ‘We think what you're doing is really cool, come and do it here.’”
 
And it has only gotten worse since.
 
In October, the BBC reported U.K. science funding bodies will absorb cuts of 41 per cent to their capital expenditure. That figure comes on top of a 10 per cent real terms cut announced earlier. And researchers fear more are to some.
 
To Canada alone in the last year, the U.K. lost four top scientists to Western, University of Saskatchewan and University of Alberta as British researchers won four $20 million awards created by the Canadian government. That funding total is the most by any country outside the United States, which will lose nine scientists to the program.
 
You wonder, how many other Adrian Owens are out there getting nervous? Not just in the U.K. and United States, but beyond. And wouldn’t Canada, even Western, be a nice new home for them?
 
Austerity in the name of austerity, with nary a hint of strategy behind it, does zero good. It is a short-term, albeit momentarily politically popular, solution that cannot be considered as a long-term strategy. And it has nothing to do with common sense. It sounds good out on the stump, but its application is doomed to failure. It is akin to tearing out your kitchen after you put on a couple of pounds after the holidays.
 
The current global political climate highlights the need for continued smart investment. Commitment to research, especially in the sciences, is a commitment to the future.
 
That fact is just common sense. So far, Canada seems to get that.

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