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Our
individual and collective hearts and prayers go to the
victims and their families of the maritime disaster. No
words of condolence can do much to relieve the grief.
Financial assistance and donations in kind can lessen
the suffering, and we all have an obligation to do what
we can to help.
In
hindsight, the shipping line should have cancelled the
trip, and I am sure they wish they had. Philippine
maritime authorities should have not allowed the vessel
to sail, and they surely regret that regardless of the
words of the formal guidelines. The vessel’s captain
should not have put to sea and, at some point, he knew
he committed a grave error.
Yet,
there is another participant in the decision to sail—the
passengers themselves.
There
was a raging typhoon blowing in the central Philippines.
Yet, they depended on the “wisdom” of the Coast Guard,
the shipping line and the ship’s crew for their safety.
At what
point does or should personal responsibility take
command in our lives?
Governments, all governments around the world, have
become massive institutions in the last 60 years. With
promises of being able to manage individual lives better
than the individuals themselves can, governments have
taken over as much personal responsibility as they could
for the care and well-being of the individual.
We have
been told over and over that governments can provide for
us, and we have accepted those words as truth even after
seeing a long and sad history of failure by those
governments.
Tens of
thousands of children were killed during the recent
earthquake in China, a result of faulty design and
construction of school buildings. Local residents who
were interviewed in the aftermath said they had felt
concern about the construction and expressed that
concern to officials, but in the end, accepted the
government assurances.
As
Hurricane Katrina moved closer to New Orleans, tens of
thousands waited for government assistance and waited
and waited in vain as city, state and federal officials
did little, and what they did do was completely
inadequate.
Every
year or two, a group of children are stricken with food
poisoning at some school function because the fast-food
spaghetti was left for hours unrefrigerated, growing
harmful bacteria. No mother objected. No organizer
questioned it. Personal safety was left in the hands of
an “authority.”
The US
Congress passes a biofuels law that, from the outset,
guaranteed that corn and wheat would reach historically
high price levels. But the American people relied on
their elected officials and the wisdom of their
government.
It is
not only to the government that people have given up
personal responsibility. We just as easily accept the
“truth” when laid down by corporations and “experts.”
In the
last 10 years there have been countless recalls of
tainted food in the United States, the latest being the
salmonella-infected tomatoes that have sickened a few
hundred. Ground beef, chicken, the full range of what we
put on our table is now the responsibility of companies
and government agencies.
Former
Vice President Al Gore has made, by some estimates, $100
million promoting his unproven hysteria of “global
warming.” Now that real science proved that world
temperatures have been dropping since 1998, “global
warming” is now “climate change.” And what is the
definition of “climate”?
“Climate
is the variations of weather in a region over long
periods of time.” In other words, “climate” means
change. Yet, we may worry and even alter our behavior
because of what “experts” on so many topics tell us.
Too many
follow the “experts” only because, well, they are
experts.
We have
put aside, even given up, personal responsibility in
favor of the ease and convenience of letting others do
our job for us. Then we complain that the results are
terrible.
We
expect the government to provide jobs as if it was the
government’s responsibility. Yet, at the same time, we
applaud and hold up as an example self-made individuals.
ABS-CBN
news online tells the story from the OFW Journalism
Consortium of an OFW who came back to the Philippines
and started a fish-drying business in Zamboanga. The
business failed, wiping out the family savings. They
then started making cassava cake and were successful
until the mass food poisoning in Bohol after residents
ate cassava in 2004. His business nearly failed when
they stopped making cassava cake.
So,
then, he whined and complained about the government not
providing jobs and opportunities. Sorry, no. He then
started making banana cake. His business is thriving
now.
Not so
long ago, people did not expect very much from the
government, and the government provided very little.
They knew their success or failure depended on their
individual effort and responsibility.
Now we
expect almost everything from the government, and still,
the government provides very little. And too many people
succeed or fail based on what the government does or
does not give and by believing the government has the
ultimate responsibility for their lives.
We speak
of “empowerment.” However, the greatest power on earth
is the power of the individual, and that power can never
be unleashed until there is a strong sense of personal
responsibility.
“Man
must cease attributing his problems to his environment,
and learn again to exercise his will, his power, his
personal responsibility.”—Albert Einstein.
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