Nick Pedersen wrote on 04/08/09 2:14 PM

This article reminds me of Kitty Genovese who was murdered over the course of a half hour in Queens as 38 of her neighbors looked on in apathy. I suppose there is a difference in that none of the witnesses actually caused the event but it seems to point towards a human mentality of not wanting to be the first to take action. Many lack faith in their own ability to solve a glaringly critical problem until it is obvious they have a support network. People need to learn that everyone has the capacity to effect change and be the leader they are waiting for.

Gerardo Vicuna wrote on 04/09/09 4:30 PM

I certainly believe that in our society people tend to not take responsibility for their own actions.We live in a society were their is always an excuse for something we did wrong or we blame our problems on someone else. I feel that people view challenges as someone else's problem as long as they are not being directly affected. We know about the exploitation of labor in other countries as well as immigrants in our own, the many weaknesses of our prison system, about disease epidemics and starvation around the world but because many of those things do not affect us directly we ignore them as we see them as someone else's problem. In some instances our neo-liberal policies have been the reason for many of the problems previously mention and we do not responsibility for our actions but instead we put the blame on developing nation for being corrupt and not having modernize.

Nick Akhbari wrote on 04/09/09 5:12 PM

Ever since a young age children have been taught to clean up after their messes and take responsibility for their actions. These simple tasks are meant to instill a sense of responsibility in an individual and when a person makes a mistake they need to own up and suffer the consequence of their own actions. If not they are doomed to repeat the same mistakes or create even larger problems for themselves and others. People also need to start taking on more responsibility and not allow evil to continue if they have an opportunity to do anything about it (such as calling the cops if they witness a murder).

Jana Gallus wrote on 04/09/09 8:00 PM

I think one participant in our group discussion mentioned something very interesting in this respect, and I have to say that I thought about this a lot: That Asian students, when asked why they didn't perform well in a test, say they didn't study hard enough. In contrast to that, Americans (and Europeans) tend to blame the teacher or someone else. And, on average, who is better in Maths?!
Another field where this phenomenon of an aversion towards responsibility becomes most obvious is the environmental one (there's also this nice metaphor of letting one's sheep eat on a public pasture, leading to the disappearance of the latter). No one wants to pay for the damage they are causing to the environment - be it on a national or an individual level. But, as the famous quotation goes, "there is no such thing as a free lunch" and someone somewhere WILL have to pick up the tab for lunch / take responsibility.

Sarah Trumble wrote on 04/10/09 2:05 PM

The SEP Field is alive and well in international relations today. How else can the advanced industrial nations excuse genocide in Darfur, widespread starvation, and the spread of curable epidemics? Even more unfortunate, and what many Western leaders have not yet realized, is that no problem of this magnitude will for ever remain the responsibility of "someone else." With the ease of world air travel, disease can spread worldwide overnight. Lack of food reserves coupled with poor harvests will turn food shortages into worldwide hunger and malnutrition. Global warming will affect us all - how dare the US leave it for others to solve and opt not to participate in Kyoto? Hopefully a new US administration can set an example for all governments of what it is to be globally responsible in the 21st Century.

jessie fidler wrote on 04/10/09 2:39 PM

Taking responsibility for our own actions is obvious to many of us, but to others this obligation may be hard to recognize, especially when there are innumerable examples of people getting away with leaving their own mess for others to take care of. Take the current bail-outs in the U.S.--while a small number of corporate leaders took giant risks with money that they didn't have, American taxpayers will be responsible for getting them back on their feet. It is many of these same corporations which offshore their production facilities because of loose labor and environmental standards. As a result, they end up seriously polluting the air, land, and water of other nations while maintaining oppressive working conditions. These issues fall on the shoulders of those nations as opposed to the corporation itself or its' consumers--as negative externalities, commodity prices do not reflect the damage done through irresponsible production. Therefore "clean up" remains in the hands of someone other than those who caused the problems to begin with.

larry prodehl wrote on 04/10/09 7:09 PM

The SEP is a terrible thing! I will not talk about this on a world scale. That would be too easy. I have had a few instances with children (9-14) lately that make me ask the question. Have you taught your children that injustice, in any form, is not acceptable? It does start in kindergarden. If your friend is having a bad day, will you help them clean up? What will you do if somebody starts calling your friend names? Social responsibility starts very early. We can change this on our own playgrounds.

Rachel Ashby wrote on 04/11/09 8:20 PM

Paul argued that learning how to clean up our own messes instills in us a sense of empowerment and accountability, and that such lessons are necessary to grow into more mature and responsible people. So if we see a person, a culture, or a country struggling, should do something do help them? Or would doing so deny them the chance of learning the lessons of responsibility? Where do we draw the line between helping others and leaving them to solve their own messes?

Jessica Stevens wrote on 04/12/09 10:42 AM

The concept of cleaning up our own messes is quite relevant in today's topic of company bailouts. It is really disappointing to me that there is no responsibility being taken by large companies to clean up the messes they have created for the national and global economies. The American people are left to bailout the irresponsible decisions made by the leaders of these companies. This same lesson can be applied to the government of the state of California. The state of California faces a 40 billion dollar deficit and rising taxes. I am not sure why more people are not raising the issue of responsibility for this horrifying situation. Californian citizens are forced to reach deep into their shallow wallets to bail out a state that could not manage its budget. Who is responsible for this mess and why are Californians forced to bear the burden of their poor decisions?

Laura Tomforde wrote on 04/12/09 3:55 PM

I believe we are all guilty on some level of thinking that someone else will clean up our messes. We do not want to look at ourselves as being the culprits of such a mentality but we are on a day to day basis. Regarding our environment, we sneer at large oil companies and manufacturers whose emissions are far above our own, yet in little Isla Vista we cast our beer cans and trash on our sidewalks and beaches expecting someone less fortunate to clean them up. We treat our own town as if it is someone else's responsibility to keep it clean. We speak globally of the environmental issues at hand yet close our eyes to our own backyard. Should we not look at our own small messes first before we point the finger at the larger easy targets?

Brian Lantos wrote on 04/12/09 7:16 PM

Taking responsibility for a mistake can be extremely difficult and painful. There is no easy way to go around it; one just has to swallow their pride and apologize for their mistakes. Through my past experiences, I've come to a sad realization that most people run away from taking responsibility for their mistakes. They would rather do the easy thing by turning their heads and act like nothing happened. Will our society ever deter off of this selfish road? Sadly, I think this will be a trend that will forever repeat itself.

David Guerra wrote on 04/12/09 7:38 PM

Out of all the recent articles I have to say that this one has to be one of my favorites. It's message is quite simple yet at the same time very powerful. It says a lot about or society and the mentality many of us have when dealing with the day-to-day challenges we face. I think it's a perfect example of what we're currently seeing with the global economic crisis, particularly in the United States. Companies are lining up for government bailouts at the expense of the taxpayers and frankly it's going to be our generation that will ultimately be paying the bill. My question is why can't the Fed be like Brett's dad and let these crooks on Wall street clean up their own messes?

Sandra Moreno wrote on 04/12/09 9:20 PM

"Either the mess remains or it becomes a burden to someone else." The Banking industry and the Bush Administration come to mind when I read this sentence. But even after the populist outrage by both citizens and politicians fade, the lobbyists and political players succeed in softening strong reforms. The same entities who decry any government regulation come knocking on the door for a bailout when their financial schemes falls apart. Is government at the disposal of corporations with taxpayers footing the bill? What does a healthy relationship between government and corporations look like!!??

I have to mention that the lesson of accountability cannot start too early. My 17 year old son tried to delegate one of his upcoming responsibilities to me. Fortunately for him, I had just read the article. So I just looked at him and said "Just let me know when you have solved the problem". While at first not thrilled with my answer, he later dealt with it himself and felt better about himself for doing so.

Michael Geffre wrote on 04/14/09 9:59 AM

Little to Big. In our own homes someone may falter. We as a family will usually forgive them, help and get them back on their feet. As a neighborhood, our neighbor may make a poor choice to smoke in bed and burn his house down. But as neighbors we will come together not judge, help him out and get him back on his feet. As city, things get bigger. People make mistakes, if we know them we may help a little, if we don't know them we may tell our selves they need to learn a lesson and they will have to figure it out for them selves. As a State we start blameing the politicians and law makers. As a country we blame any body but our selves and usually the easiest target.

But let us remember. You, your wife, your husband and children make up your home. You, your wife, your husband, children and neighbors make up your neighborhood. You, your wife, your husband, children, neighbors and your neighbors, neighbors make up your city. And your city and other city's make up your State. And all of our States make up the United States. So ask your self, is it our problem or theirs ?