I agree with some parts of what you say, but I would point out that the
ultimate expression of eschewing personal responsibilities is socialism,
where you rely on the state to take care of your every need and you do not
have to make decisions.
It is because of this that 15,000 elderly died in their homes in France
during a heat wave a few summers ago simply abandoned by their families who
were vacationing, secure in the knowledge the nanny state had removed that
responsibility from them.
We saw it here in New Orleans when people caught in the vicious cycle of
generational welfare entitlement were totally unable to get out of town and
when the city and state failed them, we saw what happened, even after all
the lies reported in the MSM.
This is not to say that we should shirk our societal responsibility to take
care of people who cannot otherwise do that for themselves, indeed in my
opinion that this the highest duty of a decent society; take care of those
who cannot take care of themselves and leave the others alone.
You have examples all over the world of failing countries, what they have is
common is that they take away individual initiative.
Welcome to the group, it's your group too.
Denys
-----Original Message-----
From: HP-3000 Systems Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Judy La
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 3:21 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] OT: The Century Ahead
I'm new to your group, but this touched me in a very raw spot. What we
sorely lack is the fostering of a sense of responsibility, in everyone, for
our actions. The "ideal" method of dealing with problems, mistakes, etc.,
in this day, is to point the finger at someone else, deny any wrongdoing and
hope to get away with it. This attitude is being fostered in families,
schools, you name it. And until we accept the responsibility and/or
consequences for what we do, are willing to "own up" to our mistakes and
make honest efforts to correct whatever the wrongdoing is, we will be
hopelessly mired in in a decaying society. We are theoretically the world's
only "super power". That said, we only have to look back at other societies
so enamored with themselves and the same attitude, to see massive failure is
the end result: Rome, Egypt, Germany prior to WWII, East Germany, Russia,
etc.
"Johnson, Tracy" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
John Lee says,
>
> What we sorely lack in the USA are true patriots, those who
> think of the
> team first, and personally sacrifice for the good of the team. Our
> generation has been taught, and we're teaching our kids, that
> life is all
> about ourselves, accumulating material wealth ahead of all else, and
> getting and staying ahead of others. We've become a society
> where success
> is a destination rather than a journey. And that's why white
> collar crime
> (which is what political corruption is) has become rampant.
> We're teaching
> greed. And I think we're teaching it at every level of
> society...schools,
> churches, jobs, youth athletics, etc. Until we model
> something different,
> we'll continue to be a group of individuals trying to
> cohabitate rather
> than the cohesive team that this country was during, for
> example, WWII.
This has also been thought of elsewhen:
CAPT McKim, USNR said in November, "Here in California I see many
demonstrate their will with bumper stickers on the rear of their monster
SUVs -- 'Support Our Troops,' -- as they talk on cell phones advising
their children to avoid any sacrifices. Today there is no shared
adversity as there was during World War II."
> And I'm becoming convinced that a big step in that direction
> is to make the
> estate tax much much higher for those who have accumulated great
> wealth. They should be forced to return most of it to
> society (this coming
> from a Republican!!).
>
> John Lee
However, they did that with the "Alternative Minimum Tax" in 1969 which
was designed to tax those with "great wealth". Thanks to 36 years of
inflation, this "great wealth" tax has now hit the middle class. I
would expect the same to occur with a similar estate tax in a not too
distant Huxleyan future.
(Alternatively, an overreaching government will find a way to tax rich
people no matter what the method or who's in charge. It depends how
strongly a government wants the money.)
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