Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - What Happened to Personal Responsibility?

shakran · 10-14-2008, 05:36 PM

There's a lot of simplification in this thread.

Yes, the people who got the risky loans were personally irresponsible. That I and the rest of you have to bail them out now does indeed piss me off.

But there's also the personal responsibility of not tricking morons into doing things that will hurt them. There's the personal responsibility of not pretending that the housing market will continue to rise indefinitely, and of not pretending that when the housing market does stop rising, that those predatory loans won't come due with the borrower being unable to pay, and therefore your bank won't be taking in the money it should. In short, everyone involved in those damned loans, from the idiot who borrowed the money to the idiot who lent the money to the idiots in government who relaxed the rules enough to allow the first two idiots to be idiots, bears responsibility. There's plenty of blame to go around. To place it all on the shoulders of any one idiot is to cheat the other idiots out of the scorn they so richly deserve.

Personal responsibility has been on the decline for decades. It's not like this latest financial crisis is the start of it.

Ever notice those stupid warning labels on products? "Do not drive vehicle with sunshade in place. Do not spray hose into electrical outlet. Do not eat the silicon packet in the stereo box. Do not watch DVD's while driving" and so on. Every time you see one of those labels (Caution! Hot beverages are hot!) I bet you think to yourself "Damn. You'd have to be a real idiot to do this." Well. You're only half right. Every time you see a warning label ("Do not use orally after using rectally) an idiot actually did that, and then sued the company.

We've all heard of the guy who set the cruise control on his motor home and went to the galley to make himself a cup of coffee, wrecking the vehicle. But did you know that Mr. Merv Grazinski was awarded 1.75 million plus a new motorhome by the jury when he sued Winnebago?

Why should we have personal responsibility when our culture has established that doing stupid things means you get money? It's financially more sound to do something idiotic and sue than it is to be smart and responsible.

Until we turn that attitude around, there's no incentive for personal responsibility, and in fact there is incentive to purposely avoid it, and therefore, to put it bluntly, society is screwed.

10-14-2008, 05:36 PM	#9 (permalink)
shakran Tone.	There's a lot of simplification in this thread. Yes, the people who got the risky loans were personally irresponsible. That I and the rest of you have to bail them out now does indeed piss me off. But there's also the personal responsibility of not tricking morons into doing things that will hurt them. There's the personal responsibility of not pretending that the housing market will continue to rise indefinitely, and of not pretending that when the housing market does stop rising, that those predatory loans won't come due with the borrower being unable to pay, and therefore your bank won't be taking in the money it should. In short, everyone involved in those damned loans, from the idiot who borrowed the money to the idiot who lent the money to the idiots in government who relaxed the rules enough to allow the first two idiots to be idiots, bears responsibility. There's plenty of blame to go around. To place it all on the shoulders of any one idiot is to cheat the other idiots out of the scorn they so richly deserve. Personal responsibility has been on the decline for decades. It's not like this latest financial crisis is the start of it. Ever notice those stupid warning labels on products? "Do not drive vehicle with sunshade in place. Do not spray hose into electrical outlet. Do not eat the silicon packet in the stereo box. Do not watch DVD's while driving" and so on. Every time you see one of those labels (Caution! Hot beverages are hot!) I bet you think to yourself "Damn. You'd have to be a real idiot to do this." Well. You're only half right. Every time you see a warning label ("Do not use orally after using rectally) an idiot actually did that, and then sued the company. We've all heard of the guy who set the cruise control on his motor home and went to the galley to make himself a cup of coffee, wrecking the vehicle. But did you know that Mr. Merv Grazinski was awarded 1.75 million plus a new motorhome by the jury when he sued Winnebago? Why should we have personal responsibility when our culture has established that doing stupid things means you get money? It's financially more sound to do something idiotic and sue than it is to be smart and responsible. Until we turn that attitude around, there's no incentive for personal responsibility, and in fact there is incentive to purposely avoid it, and therefore, to put it bluntly, society is screwed.