Personal Responsibility! What the Hell is That?

 Part of this post is response to some of the comments I received on Will Roberts' Weekly Telegram. Sometimes I don't people think, they just react. They read a column, but they don't absorb it. Either that or they are so bent on pushing their ideology, they just read the headline, scan the post and comment with a lot of venom. You decide, all the posts are right here. I'm not perfect and I never will be, but I do try my best to look at truth.

I read some of the remarks about my last post, “RACISM: Is There A Cure?” and was astounded to yet again be called a racist. This time it seems I don’t have empathy, which I clearly do if you read the post with open eyes. I will move on to say that Michael Jackson had it right when he said ” I’m starting with the man in the mirror. If you want to make the world a better place take a look at yourself and make a change”. We have gotten so far from personal responsibility in the country on a national level it’s scary. If the US government apologized to the African American community for slavery and unfair treatment during their times as human beings in the country, would that be enough? If all the descendants of former slaves were given a huge financial windfall, would that be enough? The big question is can anything heal past wounds?

 

  There are some folks who will never get over the past and that’s just the way it is. So what does any of this have to do with personal responsibility? I do believe there are people who use the past and sometimes, even present perceived wrong doings to shirk responsibility for their own lives. This has no attachment to race, as this mindset of “Somebody owes me” has crept into the mainstream way of thinking. Even those born to privilege believe they should get by with anything they want because, they’re more important than the “little people”. The amount of fatherless homes in this country of any race SCREAMS a lack of personal responsibility. I think is an important discussion to raise because we are losing the family core and that’s what good and decent communities are founded on. The family starts with the individual, then 2 individuals. If they lack quality and good decision making, then we have another broken or severely dysfunctional home. Then, at some point, society must bear the burden of offspring from a terrible home who go out and shoot someone jogging down the street because they’re bored.

 

 I’m not perfect, far from it. I consider myself a work in progress who will never be perfect, or even close. I do try to learn and grow everyday, if I can. I see the lack of people who want to better themselves as very disheartening. We have a grand experiment going in the country, not without it’s faults. I say it from the stage and I’ll say it here. I think it’s up to one’s self and not the government if they are to “make it’. This country is not perfect, but you do have a great opportunity to achieve great things. If you sit around and feel sorry for yourself, a million dollars can’t fill that unhappy hole you’ve dug. But you can climb out and cover the hole up for free. Personal Responsibility is not just for the individual, it’s also an ingredient in a successful society. Truth Be Told, the people with the most freedom on earth are the one’s who secure it for themselves.