Recent history is full of events showing society has lost respect for wisdom. In comparison with knowledge, wisdom is now undervalued or has no value at all. The reason knowledge has leaped to the fore is the extraordinary rate of advancement in technology, medicine and other areas of science.
The advancements have led to the creation of great wealth.
The value of Wisdom
Parents value intelligence for their children. Having a brilliant child can mean a good life for a child and parent alike. But, we seldom hear parents wishing for their child to be wise. There are no standardized tests for wisdom. Perhaps we should ponder what we seem to have left behind.
Let me posit to you the loss to society is a large one. Societies need wisdom. It is more needed than knowledge. In fact, knowledge without wisdom is likely to lead to great evil. Think about Nazi Germany. It had many great scientists. Then there are societies such as the USSR, North Korea, and Iran where their knowledge and intelligence are misused. One might consider China in this group also.
So, what is wisdom if it is not intelligence or knowledge? Wisdom is the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships; it is an insight. It is good sense; the ability to act with judgment. It is the accumulated philosophical or scientific learning balance with a wise attitude, belief, or course of action. Wisdom is the use of sense, common sense and judgment combined. Wisdom is the ability to reach intelligent conclusions.
What is wisdom
Sense implies a reliable ability to judge and decide with soundness, prudence, and intelligence. A choice showing good sense common sense suggests an average degree of such ability without sophistication or special knowledge. Common sense tells me it is wrong, judgment implies sense tempered and refined by experience, training, and maturity. Wisdom implies sense and judgment above average.
Today’s leftists, politicians, educators, and media, may have knowledge. They may have intelligence. They do not have wisdom. There are examples we have seen recently. They run from the Kavanaugh confirmation to the Trump impeachment to the response to the killing of General Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s Quds Forces. The leftist positions lack wisdom in each case. America Needs to Use Wisdom to Arrive at Sound Judgments.
Examples of leftist judgment
Let’s go through the three examples. In the Kavanaugh confirmation, the leftists abandoned the principles of law. They had no evidence of any wrongdoing. Kavanaugh’s decisions were 93% aligned with their preferred candidate Merrick Garland. Worse yet they were prepared to abandon the principle of innocent until proven guilty. They campaigned that his accuser must be believed because of gender. Is that not sexist?
In the Trump Impeachment, they tried to hold secret hearings; secret hearing to remove the President. They did not allow him to confront his accuser. They denied him representation. He was not allowed to call witnesses. Then they charged him wilt obstructing Congress. The executive branch of government is a co-equal branch of government. For the charge to stick they would have to have gone to the Supreme Court to compel but they did not bother to try. There is simply no evidence of anything beyond policy difference. This is not a use for which the founders had any intent for impeachment.
With the drone strike; the precedent was already in place. Barack Obama used drones literally hundreds of times resulting in thousands of deaths. He even murdered an American citizen without a trial using a drone strike. Yet when Trump kills the number one terrorist in the world it is a problem. Think carefully about this. General Soleimani controlled a billion dollar per month budget to finance terror operations. He was in Iraq coordinating the attack on the American embassy. Do you really want to defend the man or his actions?
Conclusion
Leftist politicians, educators and media, may have knowledge. They may have intelligence. But, they do not have wisdom. It is time for Americans to stop living on outrage. We need to stop emoting only. It does not matter how smart you are, or how much knowledge you have if you do not use wisdom to arrive at sound judgments before acting.