Sunday, October 5, 2008

The Politics of Personal Responsibility

Warning: Political (mostly non-partisan) rant ahead with only a token tie-in to the ER theme.  Proceed at your own peril:

I have found myself beyond frustrated over the past few weeks as the credit crisis has remained the number one news item of the day.  Not because of the credit crisis, but because nobody around seems willing to put blame where blame belongs.

Yes, the Democrats had something to do with enforcing equal opportunity loans even to people who can't afford them, and the Republicans were guilty of too much looking the other way as the books were cooked, and the fat cats on wall street certainly didn't mind the extra income pooring in, and the lenders weren't always up front about the true costs of the loans, and on and on and on.  Everyone has a share of the pie.  But nobody seems willing to really, truly say where the blame falls.

Enter Daniel B, who, as far as I can tell is a political nobody writing for a political nothing of a blog that I found through the "recommended" part of my Google Reader.  In one compelling essay he lays out the case that I have only heard hinted at from any major news or political source (some credit to Palin in the debate for at least brushing by the idea).  Go read it.

This is one of the biggest issues for me and one of my endless frustrations in the ER: people don't seem willing to accept responsibility for their decisions, and when the vessel breaks and the pieces lie shattered on the ground, all we ever seem to get is a lot of finger pointing and a lot of denial.

Folks, it is time to suck it up, to admit that you made a mistake, to recognize the handwriting on the signature line.  I'm sick and tired of all the finger pointing.  Yes everyone had a part to play, but you are the one who signed the dotted line.  Accept that, and I'll be much more willing to help you out.

3 comments:

Braden said...

Oops, I went back and re-read the article, and apparently it was posted by Daniel B, but written by someone named Kent Cook. Consider this your official Braden-takes-personal-responsibility-for-his-mistakes moment.

Gina said...

Great article. This is my beef with what has transpired...no one is pointing the finger at those who made a stupid decision, and now, those of us who do our best to stay out of debt, don't buy cars we can't afford and don't need, and continue to rent because buying a home is still beyond our means are having to pay for other people's housing mistake. Have you noticed that before the bailout, the stocks went up when America just "let it be" versus when we talked about the money that it would take to not even fix the problem, things go haywire. I'm a simple girl with a BA in music. If I can see what's going on, why can't anyone else?

Gina

Frantic Home Cook said...

Finally someone says it. It's awfully easy to point the fingers at those in power, but they couldn't pull off these schemes without our participation.

Americans have become spoiled on cheap goods, endless resources and easy credit. Our national lifestyle seems to be summed up in two statements: "I want!" and "It's not MY fault!"

If any good comes out of this mess, it will be a return to the personal responsibility, community contribution and simple living our grandparents espoused. Grandma didn't need breast implants and Botox, and Grandpa wasn't buying a 50" Plasma. But even if they had, they'd have paid cash.