Goal
Today, I reflect on responsibility and why weak individuals refuse to embrace it.
Table of Contents
- What Is Responsibility?
- Modern Man Is Not Responsible for Himself
- Examples of Responsibility Being Avoided
- Why do we ensure the individual is never responsible for himself?
- The More Responsible You Are, The More Powerful You Become
- The Only Solution To Personal and Societal Woes Is Personal Responsibility
- Actionables
What Is Responsibility?
“Take responsibility of your own happiness, never put it in other people’s hands.” – Roy T. Bennett
Responsibility is “the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or having control over someone.” Or “the state or fact of being accountable for something.”
You are responsible for your life. You must take care of yourself by paying your bills, cooking your meals, functioning as an adult, etc. Furthermore, you are accountable for whether your life is good or bad. It doesn’t matter if you’ve fallen on hard times or are experiencing heaven on Earth; your state in life is primarily your creation.
Modern Man Is Not Responsible for Himself
People do not have to pay for the consequences of their foolishness directly. Yet, we are told we live in an individualistic society.
Man is not responsible for himself despite the whinings about “rugged individualism,” “atomized individualism,” and other buzzwords. Most weak individuals have entirely shrugged off responsibility and given themselves to the ruling classes, the elites, and the mob.
A man is not responsible if he can avoid the direct consequences of his actions. Individualism ensures a man pays directly for whatever he wants, whether a loan or a war. The modern man has no such issues. He may act poorly, make stupid decisions, and hurt others. However, he will rarely have to deal with the consequences of such actions. Thus, he never develops responsibility for himself.
Examples of Responsibility Being Avoided
- A family member can be abusive to others but will be protected by the family. Why? Because we have to keep families together. It’s easier to excuse poor behavior than demand self-improvement from others. The family members do not want to be accountable. They prefer to go along to get along and will blame the individuals demanding higher standards.
- National debt ensures the average vote never has to pay for the stupid, fleeting things he wants. Want free healthcare? Endless wars? Good news! You never have to pay for it – your children you aren’t having will do that for you.
- The average person is in massive debt for everything from college to credit cards. Do they take responsibility for such acts? Do they set a budget or work to pay off their loans or stop taking out new loans? Of course, not. They do not correct their behaviors. Thus, we live in a society with a significant debt burden no one wants to pay off.
In all instances, modern man has the financial, physical, mental, and emotional tools needed to remove responsibility from himself. Because individuals do not embrace responsibility, society crumbles.
Why do we ensure the individual is never responsible for himself?
“Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” – Sigmund Freud
Firstly, the average person does not want to pay for what he desires because he is lazy and entitled. He does not want to directly pay for the roads, wars, healthcare, and other little gifts from the state. He does not want to be directly responsible for his food or how wisely he spends his money. And he does not want to live in a society that is critical of his behaviors and proclivities.
Secondly, the ruling classes know what responsibility does to a man. It makes him more aware, more possessive, and more powerful. The average man in charge of his life will not tolerate weakness, insincerity, or manipulation. Such a man is harder to control.
Therefore, entire systems, institutions, and ideas are focused on removing individual responsibility. This is why governments forgive student loans or print more money. This is why corporations make excuses for the poor behavior of communities and individuals. This is why family members do not hold each other to a higher standard. If you do not embrace responsibility, you become weaker and weak individuals are exceptionally easier to control.
The More Responsible You Are, The More Powerful You Become
For example, if you do not embrace responsibility, you will whine about injustices, but you’ll do nothing to solve them. Why? Because you are too weak to do anything. Are you bothered by homelessness or child abuse? Well, you depended on the government to solve these issues (that it hasn’t resolved). Thus, you never earned more money to give to charity, improved your courage to confront abusers, or learned the skills needed to build communities that protect the vulnerable.
Another example: if you aren’t accountable to yourself, you won’t improve your health. Why? Because society is to blame for your unhealthiness, why should you do anything about it? Best to keep spending your money at corporations that feed you fatty foods, pills, and comforting narratives. However, these are things they could never provide you if you took responsibility for your health.
The mob, ruling classes, and elites take power, money, and influence from you if you refuse to control yourself and your whims. Remember, responsibility means work. It involves virtue, struggle, and consequence. Luckily, if a man pursues accountability for his actions, he will naturally become stronger and more capable.
Such accountability makes you powerful yet useless to those who wish to enslave you.
The Only Solution To Personal and Societal Woes Is Personal Responsibility
Do you want to make the world a better place? Then embrace responsibility and improve your life.
The national debt, single motherhood, exploding crime, financial debt, idiot politicians, a growing oligarchy, and much more are all problems that stem from one decision. The decision weak individuals make to avoid personal responsibility.
Will things ever change? Honestly, I do not know. Nothing will improve until people look at their lives and take responsibility where they can and should. Such a mass turn of events rarely happens. Humans are notorious for pursuing comfort instead of virtue.
However, do not despair. If you can change your life for the better, you will weather the insanity of everything happening around you. What if the individual was responsible for himself? Take your own life and test what happens. You will find that your life has more meaning, purpose, and happiness when you are more accountable to yourself.
Actionables
“The price of greatness is responsibility.” – Winston Churchill
- Do you know anyone in your life who refuses to embrace responsibility for themselves? How do you feel about that person? Is it possible to help them? What qualities do they have that you have?
- Where do you struggle or suffer? Is there anything you can do to take charge of that issue and resolve it? Or do you feel you can’t do anything? Who told you that you are powerless to resolve your suffering?
- Is there an area within your life where you have taken responsibility for? For example, I did not believe my low earnings were my fault. Once I accepted that I have to earn more money, I learned more profitable skills and increased my income. Do you have similar moments that have happened to you?
Please remember that it’s important to do the actionables. You’re not on this Earth to simply read but to do. To become an individual, you must act more than you consume.
*Image credit to Unsplash.
