There are several meanings of the word ‘ignorance’. The first is being unaware or uninformed about something. Just to give an example, we are all ignorant of what is discussed by the Cabinet of Ministers unless one of them speaks publicly about it, or leaks it to a journalist, or decisions taken are made known via an official statement or by the Prime Minister.
Another interpretation of the word could be a lack of know-ledge: I know how to use a computer, but when it blocks I have to get help because I do not know how it operates. To me it is just a glorified typewriter, even if it can do so much more and I am probably using just a small percentage of its potential. Sometimes I have to ask my two teenage children for help when I get stuck, because they know more than I do.
But I will not be writing about unawareness or a lack of know-ledge. These forms of ignorance can easily be understood and accepted. Nobody, even the sharpest and most intelligent among us, can know all there is to know about everything.
And the more you learn, the more you realise how many things you do not know. It’s a pity that this fact is only recognised by the more knowledgeable.
My concern is the other kind of ignorance, which has nothing to do with knowledge, or being informed. It is the kind of ignorance which is closer to the way we interpret the Maltese meaning of the word “injoranza” – and this is a lack of common sense, or the inability to make decisions that will ultimately benefit you and those around you. It is often said that common sense is not so common, and I agree wholeheartedly.
To put it in simple terms, we can all agree that there is little common sense in the way we drive. I think we are lucky that the number of accidents – and the number of fatalities – on our roads, is not higher than it is. The way people drive in Malta, the risks they take just to arrive at their destination a minute earlier and the lack of discipline that exists are a clear indication that we, as a nation of drivers, lack common sense when behind the wheel, not to mention common courtesy, which in itself is a form of ignorance.
Of course, common sense is a subjective matter. What may be common sense for me, for others may be the wrong way of doing things. What for others may be a normal way of behaving and reacting, for me is lack of
common sense. It all depends on one’s background, upbringing, way of life, sense of duty and priorities.
What is irritating, however is that many times a lack of common sense in some people means that others have to pick up the tab.
If a man and a woman – he is so lazy that he has never held down a job for more than three months, and she has no intention of getting one – continue to have one child after another, then it is the rest of us who are paying for their bread and butter, nappies, and probably their cigarettes every morning.
If a young man wastes his years in school, leaves at 16 with no qualifications, refuses any form of training offered and is unwilling to find a job, then the burden of his life passes on to the rest of us.
If a teenage girl is promiscuous, gets pregnant and does not know who the father is, or opts to not recognise him even if she knows who he is, is unable to find a job, and possibly has a second child from the same or a different father, then the burden of that girl and her child/children passes on to the rest of us.
I may be accused of lacking solidarity, but these and other situations are an extra burdon on the social services. I can empathise with genuine cases, but I cannot condone abuse and irresponsibility. Often, this abuse or irresponsibility, or both, stems from a lack of common sense. What is worse is that there may be more cases of irresponsibility than genuine ones.
But common sense is missing in other circumstances that do not necessarily have an effect on the country’s solidarity.
It is missing in the young
people who have to drink and take drugs to enjoy themselves. It is missing in the father who uses his salary to gamble rather than to feed his children. It is missing in the mother who prefers to go out with her friends or goes shopping (regularly) rather than stay at home to help her children with their maths and English.
It is missing in the worker who, Fantozzi-like, is all packed and ready to leave the office at 5pm sharp, and then tries to make you believe that he is overworked and cannot cope. It is missing in the other worker, who comes into your office, putting on an act and asking to be sent home because he is feeling unwell, and when you tell him to go, he tells you that all his work is ready. It is missing in the employee who complains when you give him more work to do when, several times during the day, you catch him on the Facebook website or MSN.
It is missing in so many other situations during the course of the day, and it often happens that, almost involuntarily, I shake my head in disbelief at what some people say or do.
The thing is that the people who are reading this column are on the same wavelength as I am, whereas those who should be reading it to correct their ways cannot be bothered. And, even if they are forced to read it, they lack the common sense to realise that it’s intended for them.
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