Personal Responsibility

We've heard it all before: "Sorry, its company policy." "Sorry, I'm just doing my job." "Sorry, but it's state law." "Sorry, my boss won't allow that." Cowardly, pedantic, ass-headed, buck passing. Right now, the system encourages it. The system doesn't allow for independent judgment. That's the trouble with systems in general; they try to account for everything and shoulder as much of the burden as possible, and the result is that the people in charge of decision making end up defering to protocol and washing their hands of the messes they make.

Here's a great example: Teachers. Have you noticed what they teach in school these days? Professors will tell you with a straight face that the reason the American black population fails economically and socially and is being decimated by AIDS, is because of white racism. Most of them aren't thinking at all, because if they were, they'd begin to wonder why it is that blacks fail economically and socially, and are being decimated by AIDS, even when there are no white people around.

Of course they're not thinking. They can't take that responsibility upon themselves. They're just repeating what they've been told to tell you. That's what matters. School policy is very important, isn't it? Yes. That's right. Bad things happen to teachers who use their own judgment.

Well, isn't that the way it always is? Bad things happen to anyone who doesn't do what they're told to do. It's true for teachers, it's true at work, and it's even true when you're driving to and from work, isn't it? Come to a full stop at stop signs, don't speed, don't park in a red zone. People who park in the red zone get tickets. In fact, if you park your car in the red zone, you deserve a ticket. That's what people will tell you: Red zones are for emergency vehicles only. Not for civilians, not even in an emergency. Your wife is having a heart attack? Your car blew a tire? Look buddy, we're not interested; you can't park here.

But why are red zones reserved for emergency vehicles anyway? Oh, simple, they're there so that if there's an emergency, the system can help you out.

In other words, red zones are there for emergencies. If you park in a red zone because of an emergency, you're using that red zone for the exact purpose for which it was created! Yet, people still think you did something wrong by parking in a red zone – because it's the law. And police will still write you up for using a red zone – because it's the law. Not all people think this, and not all police will do this. But some do, and some will.

These are the kind of people who hide behind county codes to protect them from the consequences of their own ineptitude. They're also the kind of people who won't let you defend your friends and family as they're being robbed/raped/murdered, because it isn't your job to do that. That's the job of the police, after all, because that's the system's way of dealing with trouble; never mind if the police won't arrive on scene until after the damage is done. The best you can do in a life or death situation is cry for help and pray that you and your loved ones don't end up dead.

So why do we even have police? Why are the police there if not to keep order and prevent crime? People sometimes think the police are there to arrest criminals, because that's basically all they do, besides write up tickets. But apprehending a criminal after the crime has been committed is only good insofar as it stops that criminal from striking again. What happens when the criminal gets out? Why, he recommits, of course!

If this culture was arranged in a way that made any sense at all, you could go up to the guy who let a criminal go free and say to him, "Why did you let this man go free? If you hadn't let him go, he couldn't have destroyed any more lives. You're indirectly responsible for this!" But you can't say that to anybody, because there's no single person to be held responsible. Sure, you could go up to one of the prison guards and bitch at him, but what do you think you'd get in response? "I was just following orders."

The entire system is both brainless and irresponsible because it isn't run by men, but by a set of rules. Sane, sensible people understand that the rules aren't there to be obeyed, they're there to serve us. And if this system had been put into place by sane, sensible people, the rules would be less important than the humans who upheld them.

No amount of procedure and process will make a bad politician act like a good politician. No amount of company policy will make a bad worker act like a good worker. The only way to set up a good system is to put trustworthy peole in charge, and reward them based on their performance.

But the American system doesn't do this. Why not? Why don't the American people set high standards for teachers? Why don't the American people set high standards for legislators, officials, and bureaucrats? Why doesn't the Department of Motor Vehicles set high standards for drivers? Now there's a thought; dumb drivers are a liability on the road, because they cause a disproportionate share of accidents. Why are they on the road? Why do people think that bureaucracy and legalism will save them from ineptitude?

Individuals should be held accountable for what they do. The next time someone does something stupid and insists that he is just doing what he's told, ask him whether he's a thoughtless robot who can't help but do what his superiors command. If he says yes, then he's got a sense of humor, but he doesn't mean it. He'll realize that he was the one who made the choice to do something stupid, not the system, not company policy, not his boss, not the law. He's the one who's ultimately responsible. And if I were you, I wouldn't let people forget that.