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Personal responsibility... what is it? What does it mean? What are we, as individuals, responsible for? To what extent do we deserve credit or blame for our conduct? Then answer to the question depends on your outlook on the world. Some people believe in pre-determined fates, that is to say, that individuals' actions are determined by factors such as genetics, economics, social conditions, perhaps even supernatural forces of good and evil. Others propose that every individual has free will to choose his or her actions and forge his or her own destiny. Who is right? I would have to answer that both outlooks are correct.
I do not mean to "cop out" with my answer, merely recognize that both viewpoints have merits. Every individual has the ability to make choices, this is true, but it is also true that people do not make choices in a vacuum. The choices we are presented with are affected by many things, from the economic status we find ourselves in, to ou gender and ethnicity, to the social environment that our families and friends form around us.
Take the son of a rich family who may be presented with a choice of pursuing a career as a doctor or a drug dealer. Then take the son of a poor family who is faced with the same choice. Is each just as likely to become the doctor or is that choice easier for one of them? Which option presents the least resistance to the individual? In the end the decision must lay with the individual but obviously the world can make certain decisions easier or harder for us.
Does this mean that those who do wrong should be excused and bear no blame? Absolutely not. It is our moral duty as human beings to resist temptation, to think before we act and live our lives through conscious decisions, not merely float along with whatever impulse crosses our mind at the moment. We have the ability to control our behaviour but it is not always easy and we should not be surprised when people stumble and fall, especially those who are given life's least appealing choices to pick from. Just as the most successful in society must acknowledge the contributions others played in building their success, so we must accept the truth that society contributes to the failures of those left behind.
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Posted by hairytoad2005 on 2007-11-28 20:02:05 | Rating: | Views: 51
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