On Responsibility

Church to hold monthly
“Perfect Paws Pet Ministry”
to help dogs get into heaven.

Whatever happened to responsibility? It seems to me that responsibility has become a forgotten concept. If someone runs for office and becomes a Congressperson or Senator are they not responsible for the welfare of their constituents? There are all kinds of examples in recent years where elected officials paid no attention to the desires of their constituents, the recent travesty about health care being a good case in point. And if you serve in the administration are you not responsible for defending the Constitution and the welfare of the citizens? If this is so how is it that someone like Lieberman can propose a bill that is blatantly unconstitutional, or the Governor of Arizona can sign a bill that is almost certainly unconstitutional? This seems to me not only wrongheaded but actually irresponsible. Further, if you are elected to high office are you not responsible for participating in the ongoing political life of the community? If so, how can you simply say that you will not participate and just say “no” to everything? Is this not the absolute apex of irresponsibility? Just what are people responsible for these days, if anything? If you are the CEO of a huge corporation is it your sole responsibility to produce a profit for the company and the shareholders? Or is there some greater responsibility as well? For example, for BP to drill in the deep ocean without proper safeguards, and therefore place the planet itself at risk, is that not totally irresponsible, and for our Government to allow them to do this not equally irresponsible? Was it responsible government for Bush/Cheney to lie repeatedly to involve us in an unnecessary, unconstitutional, and criminal “war” with Iraq? Responsibility seems to have totally disappeared from our values. It appears that no one is ever responsible anymore for anything. BP is not responsible for the disaster in the Gulf, no one was responsible for anticipating 9/11, or the storm that decimated New Orleans. Personal responsibility seems to be a thing of the past. Criminals are no longer responsible for their acts, it is society’s fault, children are no longer responsible for their wrongdoing, it’s their parent’s fault, alcoholics are no longer responsible for their behavior, it’s just a disease, and so on and on and on. Terrorists are not responsible for their behavior, it’s the fault of those who oppress them, the U.S. is not responsible for the rise of terrorism, it’s because they hate us for who we are, and in those cases where no blame can reasonably be attributed, it was God’s will. I realize that all of these things are not simple, and that placing blame is sometimes doubtful, but in many cases it is perfectly clear who the irresponsible parties were. But as there is no longer any accountability, there is also necessarily no need for responsibility. Bush/Cheney, for example, are war criminals, even admitted war criminals, but they are not being held accountable for their terrible murderous acts. Somehow we must believe they were not responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands and the displacement of millions, and misery beyond human comprehension. How is it we have come to this situation in which no one is ever deemed to be responsible for their acts? If Israel were to attack Iran, an act of such enormous irresponsibility as to be virtually incomprehensible, who will be held responsible? Israel? The U.S.? The U.N.? Netanyahu? Obama? Anyone? Will it just be God’s will? Is it merely God’s will that human beings are systematically destroying their environment and threatening to blow themselves to smithereens? Is no one responsible? Was anyone responsible for destroying the salmon runs, clear-cutting the old growth forests, dumping nuclear waste into the oceans, destroying hundreds of species of plants and animals, using cluster bombs and white phosphorous weapons, land mines, drone “warfare” (I do not consider this murderous business genuine warfare), the Holocaust, the various genocides that are still ongoing, or the insanity that has become the modern world? It appears that no one is responsible, and no one will be held accountable, two things that seem to go hand in hand. What the hell, there are more important things going on, the Lawrence Taylor rape accusation, Lady Gaga, American Idol, Obama’s birth certificate, Tiger Woods, and no doubt another car chase in Los Angeles. As the world turns, as it turns, the sun comes up, the sun goes down, things change, but stay the same, everything will be okay, unless not, eat your wheaties, drink Budweiser, ask your doctor, don’t worry, there will be a pill for that soon, trust your heart to Lipitor, and if anyone tells the truth for more than four hours call your doctor (psychiatrist). The only thing left is the contest to see who is losing “it” the fastest. I think I may be ahead.

Armies in the Fire

The lamps now glitter down the street;
Faintly sound the falling feet;
And the blue even slowly falls
About the garden trees and walls.

Now in the falling of the gloom
The red fire paints the empty room:
And warmly on the roof it looks,
And flickers on the back of books.

Armies march by tower and spire
Of cities blazing, in the fire;
Till as I gaze with staring eyes,
The armies fall, the lustre dies.

Then once again the glow returns;
Again the phantom city burns;
And down the red-hot valley, lo!
The phantom armies marching go!

Blinking embers, tell me true
Where are those armies marching to,
And what the burning city is
That crumbles in your furnaces!

Robert Louis Stevenson