I look around and see all the problems that are facing our nation today, and it is surprisingly evident that we no longer have a nation that takes personal responsibility for anything we do.
You can start at looking at personal behavior. There was a time where
ADHD was just defined as a child with a stubborn streak, that... if the proper discipline and structure was applied would turn out just fine. Now... it is a disease that needs drugs. "Oh... he is just like that... " and pop more drugs.
Terets Syndrome? Just a kid who never got disciplined when he said outrageous things, and some doctor just came up with some drugs that seemed to control the odd behavior. I personal knew a kid that had this, and after one episode in which he cussed out another friend very loudly in his face, was soundly punched in the stomach. He never did it again. We like to blame everything on everyone else... and treat it with drugs, diet, or... just live with it, instead of taking responsibility for our actions and being corrected.
Lets take the financial mess we are in. We have people out there who are going into foreclosure. They insist that they are the victims... they didn't understand what they were doing. I am sorry, but if you don't understand it, why did you do it? And now... why is it my fault? If you can't afford a mortgage, you shouldn't get one. And if you can't keep up with your payments, you need to live with the consequences.
Just like those people who murder someone, then claim they were temporarily insane. True... some things that we come up against seem to overwhelm us, but if you really can't control that, and start hurting people? Why should you get away with it?
One thing our founding fathers really understood very well... With Freedom comes responsibility. Just because we have the freedom to do something, we have the responsibility to do the right thing, and the obligation to take the punishment if we make the wrong choice.
Our government has been making a lot of wrong choices lately. They encouraged banks to give loans to people who didn't deserve them. Then a quasi-government agency wanted to make itself continue to look good, so bought bad loans for real cheap, to give the impression that they were in a period of sustained growth. People got rich, and then when the house of cards was ready to fall, the government plays the hero and bails them out.
Down this path, we will face a lot of hardships. The government is attempting to bail out our whole financial system. So far they claim to need 700 billion dollars. That is almost $3,000 dollars per man, woman, and child in the United States. I dunno about you, but I can't afford that. Hard times may come, but we need to let these institutions take the hits. Investment banks, insurance companies, savings and loans... they have fallen in the past without killing our economy. The government bails out companies that use poor business practices, and the result we get are bad businesses that continue to exist, and no longer have responsibility.
My challenge to you... when you screw up, take responsibility for it. Don't pass the buck, don't find someone else to blame. It will make the world a better place. Sure... if the
AIG does this it may lead to a bit of a hard time for some... but we will survive. And we will be stronger for it.