Responsibility

As a society we seem to have a lot of trouble with deciding who is responsible for things.  In fact we seem determined to blame someone else when something goes wrong even if it most likely it was no ones fault except our own.

Maybe it was always like this and the only difference is that we hear more and more about the frivolous stuff because there is so much more instant coverage.  I can't be sure, it just seems that we spend eternities trying to place blame to the net result that most of our public figures get smeared at some point of another.

Certainly people who are responsible should own up to it, but there are so many things that happen that may be because of a particular policy or a particular prior event which are not really caused by the policy or event, simply and outgrowth of it, maybe.  Take gun ownership.  Our gun policies put more guns in circulation.  However people who use these guns to commit crimes or commit suicide did it for other reasons.  The guns were the instrument they used and whether we should increase background checks or not is really unrelated.  However if it is your gun that was used, even if it was stolen, the responsibility falls on you for failing to safeguard it.

Of course some things are clearly related like increased greenhouse gases and climate change.  That is clearly demonstrated by science but of course we have people unwilling to accept science reality.  Who is responsible is another question but I would like to point out that just because someone else also generates dangerous pollutants doesn't make it OK for me to do so.

Deciding someone else is responsible for the ills that befall you is a symptom of failure to recognize or accept responsibility.  Take smokers who have had plenty of warnings over the years about the dangers of smoking.  Yes we continued to allow these dangerous products to be grown, produced and sold because of special interests but there's been plenty of warnings about the effects.  Deciding to roll the dice and smoke ultimately makes you responsible not anyone else.  Similarly, failing to prepare yourself for the future and having little or no retirement savings is ultimately your fault.  I do understand that certain people had little or no disposable income so they may have had not options, but all of those who spent money on indulgent things could have saved more.

Ultimately we seem to want to place blame in someone else, often the Government for our individual failures.  Remember in this country we get to vote so the Government is what we make it.