Irresponsibility

We are living in a time when the new Right, exemplified by Michele Bachmann and her Libertarian comrades, scream constantly about personal responsibility as a remedy for all the social and economic ills we suffer. Personal responsibility. How about their personal responsibility?

These same preachers of responsibility whine horribly whenever they are taken to account for their support for eight years of grossly irresponsible government under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. I mention both because the puppet must have his puppeteer. The familiar chant begins, "I didn't vote for George Bush, but I think it's time we stop blaming..." The lie here is obvious. If you hadn't voted for Bush, why would you even try to defend him?

Until politicians hold themselves responsible in concrete ways for their failures, the government will continue to roll out of control of reason. Government is not the problem; bad governance at the hands of irresponsible political aristocrats is the problem. I include President Obama in that class.

The truth is that we were ruined by eight years of radical Right Wing ideology. It divided the population. It renewed the North-South mistrust and lack of cooperation. It neglected major domestic issues while pursuing the interests of international business, especially petrochemical business. It allowed the largest swindle of the public on record by bankers and stock brokers.

By denying the responsibility for this failure to represent the best interests of the people, politicians bicker aimlessly and never address the root problems of governmental and political structure. This is a hollow show of representation without the actualization.

This same process occurs in individual and family lives. If I practice irresponsibility by denying fault or failure, I will continue to develop the habits of irresponsibility. The current culture, infected by the example of those in economic and political power in the media, reflects this widespread practice of denying culpability for the most venal mistakes and offenses. Public behavior, if observed closely, also reflects this trend to social irresponsibility. People push down urban sidewalks without concern for those with whom they share them. Cars and bicyclists harass pedestrians. Public speech is rude and unnecessarily loud.

The acknowledgment of personal imperfections with genuine humility is a first step to humanist practice, in my opinion. As long as I am honest, truly and often brutally honest by today's standards of denial, with myself, I cannot go far wrong when dealing with others. As long as I feed delusions about myself, I am liable to be irresponsible in my behaviors toward others.