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Lao Tzu
New member
allright, something i saw in another post kinda inflamed this. i don't know if i am alone in this.
in america, we spend alot of time bitching about 'personal accountability' or 'personal responsibility'. if a gang member shoots someone, it is his responsibility (this is the only one i can think of offhand). if anything bad happens it is the responsibility of the aggressor.
if you read a book called 'the lucifer principle' (it is about biology & psychology btw) the author talks about how the need to feel in control of positive & negative events is a cornerstone to a healthy mind. if we went through life thinking we had little control over bad events and little control over good events we would lose hope, our immune systems would be crippled, and we would die.
i think that the whole 'personal responsibility' craze is nothing more than this principle in action. we take EVERY possible negative event, then provide a 1D solution. take responsibility for yourself. whats that you say? you shot someone. take responsibility for yourself. ad nauseum for every negative event in life.
for example. there are 10's of thousands of medical conditions. we can't solve all of them. but imagine that there was a branch of medicine that said
'there is only one disease. and only one cure. anti-biotics'
the 'personal responsibility' faction of the conservative political equasion is doing that. taking all the worlds problems then creating a simplistic solution to give themselves hope that 'hey, maybe we CAN control the bad things in life. all you have to do is take responsibility for yourself'
don't get me wrong, i believe in personal accountability when it makes things better. just not as a tool to help 'fear filled armchair obsevers' avoid living in reality. which is what it has become. not only that, i think peoepl get off on the aggression of it. getting to cut someone down like that.
personal responsibility is a viable solution to some problems, just as anti-biotics are a viable solution to some problems. but it isn't a cure all (i know this has nothing to do with the original post. it just got to me). people who say it is a cure all (conservatives usually) are probalby just trying to avoid living in reality by creating a simplistic, easily attainable solution to the world's problems. you might as well do a rain dance when the crops start to dry up, or shut the lights on & off 23 times so your family won't die in a car accident. the only purpose it serves is to live in a safe fantasy where all problems have an attainable solution rather than live in a harsh reality where solutions are harder to come by.
let the flames begin
in america, we spend alot of time bitching about 'personal accountability' or 'personal responsibility'. if a gang member shoots someone, it is his responsibility (this is the only one i can think of offhand). if anything bad happens it is the responsibility of the aggressor.
if you read a book called 'the lucifer principle' (it is about biology & psychology btw) the author talks about how the need to feel in control of positive & negative events is a cornerstone to a healthy mind. if we went through life thinking we had little control over bad events and little control over good events we would lose hope, our immune systems would be crippled, and we would die.
i think that the whole 'personal responsibility' craze is nothing more than this principle in action. we take EVERY possible negative event, then provide a 1D solution. take responsibility for yourself. whats that you say? you shot someone. take responsibility for yourself. ad nauseum for every negative event in life.
for example. there are 10's of thousands of medical conditions. we can't solve all of them. but imagine that there was a branch of medicine that said
'there is only one disease. and only one cure. anti-biotics'
the 'personal responsibility' faction of the conservative political equasion is doing that. taking all the worlds problems then creating a simplistic solution to give themselves hope that 'hey, maybe we CAN control the bad things in life. all you have to do is take responsibility for yourself'
don't get me wrong, i believe in personal accountability when it makes things better. just not as a tool to help 'fear filled armchair obsevers' avoid living in reality. which is what it has become. not only that, i think peoepl get off on the aggression of it. getting to cut someone down like that.
personal responsibility is a viable solution to some problems, just as anti-biotics are a viable solution to some problems. but it isn't a cure all (i know this has nothing to do with the original post. it just got to me). people who say it is a cure all (conservatives usually) are probalby just trying to avoid living in reality by creating a simplistic, easily attainable solution to the world's problems. you might as well do a rain dance when the crops start to dry up, or shut the lights on & off 23 times so your family won't die in a car accident. the only purpose it serves is to live in a safe fantasy where all problems have an attainable solution rather than live in a harsh reality where solutions are harder to come by.
let the flames begin
