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This is just something of a philosophical question.
It seems to be at the core of the divide between left and right ideologies. Both sides value the concept, but how they perceive it seems different.
I'm trying to ascertain all the reasons why people may choose to avoid, deny, blame others, minimize, justify, etc. rather than take personal responsibility for their beliefs, feelings, thoughts, perceptions, judgments, and actions.
Ignorance is a bigger factor than all the others you mentioned and it's not just in politics, it's life in general.
A better question would be why do so few people look inward?
Human beings are organisms; and like any other organism we are going to do what will profit us the most. Aside from feelings of pride, what possible gain or profit ever came from taking "personal responsibility?" If your life is falling aprt, isn't it easier to blame "society" or a political party or religion or lack of religion? I consider myself to be a realist and I am willing to admit when I'm wrong or made a mistake, typically, but I don't really gain anything except trust and a little respect. To the people who completely avoid personal responsibility, trust and or respect are alien concepts.
One of the things that I look at when making political choices is what is someone's fault vs what is random chance/society/luck/etc. A person is absolutely responsible for what they can control and should not be held responsible for what they cannot. The desire to blame people for things in life that they have no control over is a logical mistake that I often see conservatives and libertarians commit.
Ignorance seems to be a common assumption. But why ignorance?
Because it takes effort.
What kinds of things does a person have no control over?
It is the lowest common denominator.
You have your answer then.
It's easier to look to the outside world than to look inward. If your life is crap, it's easier to blame others, go shopping, or try and re-arrange external factors in order to make yourself feel better. The reality is that happiness lies inward, not outward.
Circumstances of their birth would be a major one
Many accidents and illnesses
In many cases, their opportunities in life,
Sheer bad luck
People should be responsible for making the best of the hand that they are dealt, but in cases where the number of plays are limited and you are always going to lose, external help should be provided.
Ignorance is a lack of knowledge or education. I would like to know specifically what a person who avoids personal responsiblity is lacking in education and knowledge. And if they are missing it, then are they personally responsible for not being personally responsible?
That sounds like apathy. But why would people find it more fulfilling to do what is easier than to do what may have the most tangible benefit?
I see, in other words, random chance.
An interesting way of looking at it.
Education is the key to solving the problem. A society that is well educated is less apathetic. People are less focused on mere survival and are more engaged in seeking the means to self-improvement, which in turn improves their surrounding community. If you want people to take more personal responsibility, then give them more education, otherwise they will always be dependent on you to give them answers. It's like that saying about fishing.
I'm not so sure that educated people are more personally responsible than uneducated people. Self awareness, on the other hand, does seem to play a large role in personal responsiblity, from what I have seen.
Yeah, if its not stuff a person control, it is often categorized that way.
The thing is, I also don't think we should go too far with it as that would ignore how economies work. For example, I am all about food stamps and other welfare, but I am not in favor of going in debt to do so as a balance between societal growth and compassion needs to be struck for the sake of the future and growth. It sucks that we cannot help everyone, but we should do what we can afford to do.
That's true. Educated people can still pass the buck. On the other hand, there is a much higher chance that educated people will reach a greater level of self-awareness than those who don't have the same privilege. Educated people don't just have access to knowledge, they have access to societal privilege which means a broader range of experiences; not to mention they have a higher salary which in turn gives them more opportunity to engage in life activities that cause self-growth.
Personal responsiblity differs considerably from social responsiblity. The latter is based on beliefs on what is best for society. I can't say that society would benefit from allowing people to starve in the streets in order to avoid going into debt. However, that is based solely on my personal beliefs. Furthermore, that isn't the current reality.
I think duty to society is an aspect of personal responsibility and I tend to have a hard time differentiating between the two when I really think about it. I tend to find a lot of examples that cover both areas and the ignoring of one is the ignoring of another. This is based on my morals of course, so others may see it differently.
Overall though, I am sure we can avoid starvation and stay out of debt pretty easily. Our country has enormous wealth and countries with a smaller per-capita income tend to be able to do it as well.
That is, of course, assuming they obtained their education legitimately. Many students today do the bare minimum to get by and their instructors are more than happy to let them do it. Doing so does not advance their self awareness nor guarantee that they are any more personally responsible. If anything some of the people who claim to be the most educated may actually be the least personally responsible as a result of how they obtained their education.
It's an interesting question. Is duty separate from personal responsibility or an intricate part of personal responsibility? The question really is do people have an obligation to society and to society's betterment.
Maybe the same question could be extended to ourselves in terms of personal responsibility. What obligations do we have to ourselves?
In that reality, it is mainly a budgetary issue. It may be more suitable to improve the overall economic condition so that there is more money to help those who need it, and to consider the largest expenditures, such as military and health care, before considering cuts to the most basic necessities. But that is my personal opinion.
Maybe people don't take personal responsibility because they are taught to not care if they are taking advantage of others.
This is just something of a philosophical question.
It seems to be at the core of the divide between left and right ideologies. Both sides value the concept, but how they perceive it seems different.
I'm trying to ascertain all the reasons why people may choose to avoid, deny, blame others, minimize, justify, etc. rather than take personal responsibility for their beliefs, feelings, thoughts, perceptions, judgments, and actions.
Is that something you can teach people?
I think most people have a, "It's none of my business" attitude.
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