According to the Merriam–Webster Dictionary, common sense is defined as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.”

I am 69 years old. Age alone does not guarantee wisdom, but it does provide the benefit of long vision. I grew up in a home divided by ideology: my mother was a committed leftist activist in Guatemala’s student movements, while my father was a banker, businessman, and respected figure in right-leaning economic circles. I witnessed their disagreements firsthand, not only around the dinner table, but also during evenings with guests and intellectuals who debated passionately in our home. The ideological conflict was not theoretical for us: in 1965, my father became the first businessman kidnapped by the then-nascent guerrilla movement, while my mother appeared on radical right-wing hit lists.

I have lived my whole life in Guatemala, where left vs. right is not an abstract political debate, it is a lived experience. We endured 36 years of civil war, from 1960 to 1996, with kidnappings, assassinations, bombings, and propaganda warfare shaping daily life. I have seen the harsh reality of poverty and families struggling to survive, and I have also seen privileged lives where everything was attainable and nothing seemed out of reach.

Before continuing, I want to state three premises, that for me, form the non-negotiable........

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