Posted by Editormum on 13 July 2009 in
News Commentary |
∞
This story shows exactly why our society is in the mess it’s in. And so, for that matter, does this one. We have completely lost our sense of personal responsibility. I mean, completely.
But let me start with a more personal example of taking personal responsibility. Twenty-four years ago, I was walking home from school with a 65-pound backpack on my back and a book in front of my face. I always read while I walked the mile and a half from my high school to my home. Until this particular day.
I was walking along, enjoying my book, when something smacked me in the face. It was pebbly and weird. And then I heard a low humming, buzzing noise. I stopped in my tracks and lowered my book … to find that I had walked smack into a swarm of bees on a low branch overhanging the sidewalk. I was fortunate. I’d hit an outlying group, not the main swarm, and, since the bees were aswarm, they weren’t inclined to sting me. This was also the year before I was attacked by yellow jackets and stung 36 times, so I wasn’t allergic to bee-stings at the time.
The lesson I learned was to lower the book and pay attention to what I was doing and where I was going. “Be careful little feet where you walk.” It never even crossed my mind to sue anyone. I did something stupid; it was my fault.
So, in the first link I posted above, this girl was walking down a sidewalk in Staten Island, New York, and texting someone at the same time. She fell into an open manhole and had a few moments to enjoy the sights and smells of the New York sewer system. Now her family says they are going to sue — they don’t quite know what they are going to sue for, since she was only a little scraped, but someone ought to pay for the “gross factor.”
WHAT!?!
You are walking down a city street and paying attention only to the little phone in your hand, you fall down a manhole and are fortunate enough to suffer only a few scrapes, and you are going to sue because it’s “gross”?!
I would ask if your mama didn’t teach you to stop and look both ways before crossing the street, but she probably didn’t. She’s the one who told the reporting journalist that it didn’t matter that you fell because you weren’t paying attention to where you were going.
And in the second link above, one my my city’s council members is having a fund-raiser. Now, the spokesperson may be telling the truth, and the fundraiser may, in fact, be for people who need air conditioning. But this councilwoman’s personal choices have landed her in such a mess, and have so destroyed her reputation, that a lot of people suspect that the fundraiser is to help pay for this woman’s personal financial needs.
Don’t you wish you and I could have a fundraiser and ask people to help us with our personal financial needs when we land in jail for infringing the law?! Especially since a lot of her needs are due to driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license, fraudulently obtaining a driving licese, and the like. Integrity? Not in my book. In my way of thinking, this woman needs to learn to accept the consequences of her actions.
It’s about personal responsibility. You do something dumb. Own it. Learn from it. Move on. Don’t blame other people for your negligence.
But our society has been conditioned to find the victim-factor so that we are never at fault. The problem is that allowing yourself to choose victimhood erodes your sense of honesty and personal integrity. It leads you to think that you are not responsible for the consequences of your actions, and it destroys your self-esteem by making you incapable of the most basic human functions: making your own decisions and accepting the consequences that ensue.
I have several friends who, like me, are in serious financial trouble. Some of it is, in fact, due to factors beyond our control. The economic downturn. Medical issues. Dishonest financial advisers or former spouses. But we will all tell you that, despite the “mitigating factors,” it was our own foolish mistakes and bad choices that got us into this mess … and that it is our own personal integrity (and hard work) that will get us out of it without copping out and declaring bankruptcy. None of us whines too terribly much about it. We realize that we made the choices, and now we have to live with the consequences.
If only the rest of our society would take this approach. It would certainly solve a lot of problems.
I think Larry Winget and Dave Ramsey would agree with me. I like their books and their blogs. Both of them preach personal responsibility. Dave focuses on finances, of course. And Larry hits just about every possible facet of life, from finances to health, from career to relationships. Neither one of them is going to go easy on you. Neither one is going to let you wallow in Poor-Me Swamp. Both of them want to give you the kick in the britches that you need to get back on your feet and start fighting.
And both of them want you to know that the number one challenge is to stop blaming other people, or circumstances, or anything else for your problems. Larry puts it most succinctly in the titles of his books: Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life. You’re Broke Because You Want to Be. It’s Called Work for a Reason (Your Success Is Your Own D— Fault). Dave is a little more diplomatic.
But both of them have the same basic premise: Take responsibility for your choices and actions. When you make a mistake, own up. Get help if you need to, but don’t make other people responsible to fix your problems. Other people should help you out of human compassion, but if they don’t, or won’t, or can’t, don’t whine about it. Don’t expect a handout; be grateful and humble if one is offered.
If we’d all follow these ideas, we’d all be a lot better off.
Tags: character, charity, Dave Ramsey, finances, honesty, integrity, kindness, Larry Winget, Philosophy, responsibility, self-help
And We Wonder Why Our Society Is In Trouble
This story shows exactly why our society is in the mess it’s in. And so, for that matter, does this one. We have completely lost our sense of personal responsibility. I mean, completely.
But let me start with a more personal example of taking personal responsibility. Twenty-four years ago, I was walking home from school with a 65-pound backpack on my back and a book in front of my face. I always read while I walked the mile and a half from my high school to my home. Until this particular day.
I was walking along, enjoying my book, when something smacked me in the face. It was pebbly and weird. And then I heard a low humming, buzzing noise. I stopped in my tracks and lowered my book … to find that I had walked smack into a swarm of bees on a low branch overhanging the sidewalk. I was fortunate. I’d hit an outlying group, not the main swarm, and, since the bees were aswarm, they weren’t inclined to sting me. This was also the year before I was attacked by yellow jackets and stung 36 times, so I wasn’t allergic to bee-stings at the time.
The lesson I learned was to lower the book and pay attention to what I was doing and where I was going. “Be careful little feet where you walk.” It never even crossed my mind to sue anyone. I did something stupid; it was my fault.
So, in the first link I posted above, this girl was walking down a sidewalk in Staten Island, New York, and texting someone at the same time. She fell into an open manhole and had a few moments to enjoy the sights and smells of the New York sewer system. Now her family says they are going to sue — they don’t quite know what they are going to sue for, since she was only a little scraped, but someone ought to pay for the “gross factor.”
WHAT!?!
You are walking down a city street and paying attention only to the little phone in your hand, you fall down a manhole and are fortunate enough to suffer only a few scrapes, and you are going to sue because it’s “gross”?!
I would ask if your mama didn’t teach you to stop and look both ways before crossing the street, but she probably didn’t. She’s the one who told the reporting journalist that it didn’t matter that you fell because you weren’t paying attention to where you were going.
And in the second link above, one my my city’s council members is having a fund-raiser. Now, the spokesperson may be telling the truth, and the fundraiser may, in fact, be for people who need air conditioning. But this councilwoman’s personal choices have landed her in such a mess, and have so destroyed her reputation, that a lot of people suspect that the fundraiser is to help pay for this woman’s personal financial needs.
Don’t you wish you and I could have a fundraiser and ask people to help us with our personal financial needs when we land in jail for infringing the law?! Especially since a lot of her needs are due to driving under the influence, driving on a suspended license, fraudulently obtaining a driving licese, and the like. Integrity? Not in my book. In my way of thinking, this woman needs to learn to accept the consequences of her actions.
It’s about personal responsibility. You do something dumb. Own it. Learn from it. Move on. Don’t blame other people for your negligence.
But our society has been conditioned to find the victim-factor so that we are never at fault. The problem is that allowing yourself to choose victimhood erodes your sense of honesty and personal integrity. It leads you to think that you are not responsible for the consequences of your actions, and it destroys your self-esteem by making you incapable of the most basic human functions: making your own decisions and accepting the consequences that ensue.
I have several friends who, like me, are in serious financial trouble. Some of it is, in fact, due to factors beyond our control. The economic downturn. Medical issues. Dishonest financial advisers or former spouses. But we will all tell you that, despite the “mitigating factors,” it was our own foolish mistakes and bad choices that got us into this mess … and that it is our own personal integrity (and hard work) that will get us out of it without copping out and declaring bankruptcy. None of us whines too terribly much about it. We realize that we made the choices, and now we have to live with the consequences.
If only the rest of our society would take this approach. It would certainly solve a lot of problems.
I think Larry Winget and Dave Ramsey would agree with me. I like their books and their blogs. Both of them preach personal responsibility. Dave focuses on finances, of course. And Larry hits just about every possible facet of life, from finances to health, from career to relationships. Neither one of them is going to go easy on you. Neither one is going to let you wallow in Poor-Me Swamp. Both of them want to give you the kick in the britches that you need to get back on your feet and start fighting.
And both of them want you to know that the number one challenge is to stop blaming other people, or circumstances, or anything else for your problems. Larry puts it most succinctly in the titles of his books: Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life. You’re Broke Because You Want to Be. It’s Called Work for a Reason (Your Success Is Your Own D— Fault). Dave is a little more diplomatic.
But both of them have the same basic premise: Take responsibility for your choices and actions. When you make a mistake, own up. Get help if you need to, but don’t make other people responsible to fix your problems. Other people should help you out of human compassion, but if they don’t, or won’t, or can’t, don’t whine about it. Don’t expect a handout; be grateful and humble if one is offered.
If we’d all follow these ideas, we’d all be a lot better off.
Tags: character, charity, Dave Ramsey, finances, honesty, integrity, kindness, Larry Winget, Philosophy, responsibility, self-help