What is "common sense?" It seems that not a single person can define the term.

Maybe because it's situational.

Don't set yourself on fire. Common sense.

Don't harm others for the joy of it. Common sense.

Eat nutritional food. Common sense.

If you need something mechanical fixed, you seek out a mechanic, not a baker. Common sense.

I could go on but situations are endless.

It is not the anointed rulers who have led the West into societal fragmentation

Of course it is. They control the education system, the television "programming" and the medical field and on and on. The indoctrination is endless, as well as honed by their years of research into the nature and doings of the human crowd.

I agree that democracy is not a good solution, which was why it was introduced in a limited capacity in the United States. But then tyranny (which is what democracy allows by those who study the human crowd) in the east doesn't seem so much better. How to balance a true aristocracy that is not damaging to the majority while keeping the majority from being narcissistic. Not sure it's possible for more than brief periods of time based on the history I have read.

Emphasis on "individuality" not only permits but encourages men to overreach.

As well as allows men of genius to reach where their gifts can without being stifled. But of course we don't have individuality here in the west, which is somewhat the purpose of my post. The rights of the few are allowed to damage the rights of the many. Each of those few and many being individuals.

And before we begin throwing rocks at the west, lets not pretend that the east is some great beacon of peace and tranquility. I'm old enough to remember the Tiananmen Square protests. Men of evil design will seek power and dqueeze their fellow men despite the system used to achieve such a thing.