observed. The "non-judgmental" approach to conduct allows transgressors to shift the responsibility for their actions from themselves to their psychological condition, peer pressure, upbringing, or whatever other excuse comes readily to hand.
With all the standing orders against irresponsibility gone, one would think that it might be rampant. Indeed, when we look at the current state of ethics, there is much to persuade us that the principle of responsibility is being ignored.
On the other hand, there has recently been a revival of public concern for ethical standards. At the same time, people seem to be taking a more "caring" attitude towards their personal relationships and showing more concern for public issues such as peace and ecology.
It could be said that, after some serious lapses caused by the shock of having a great deal of freedom lavished on them all at once, people are learning to live with that freedom. The chief lesson to be learned is that freedom of action in their personal lives does not mean freedom from responsibility in any way or to any degree.1
Freedom can be a illusory thing--just when you think have most of it, you may find that you have least of it. For instance, people who adopt an addictive habit as a way of thumbing their noses at convention may become slaves to the habit. More generally, no civilized person is free from his or her own conscience. The most painful aspect of letting somebody down is the guilty feeling that you have let yourself down, too.2
"There are two freedoms: the false where a man is free to do what he likes; the true where a man is free to do what he ought," wrote the novelist Charles Kingley. What one ought to do may be broadly defined as living up to one's responsibility.
The standard definitions of the word fail to convey the depth of its moral implications; one dictionary, for instance, says that being responsible means being "liable to be called to account." The same dictionary tells us that accountable means "answerable" and "explicable." From this, the inference might be drawn that, to get out of responsibility, you need only to be able to explain yourself.3
The emphasis on accountability could also lead to the impression that responsibility is strictly a pragmatic matter. This, in fact, is the way the subject is often approached in modern western society. We practice responsibility because it brings us benefits or saves us from penalties. People urge their children to become more responsible because if they do, they are more likely to succeed; if they do not, they are more likely to fail.
Responsibility has always been associated with work. In theory, at least, the more of it a person takes on, the better the job and the higher the income.4 Viewed in this light, it is likely to be regarded as a necessary evil, to be respected not for any ethical or humanistic reason, but to advance one's career.
It goes without saying that responsibility is imperative in business and public life. Still, it can be perceived too narrowly. Some tend to associate it only with work. It is not unusual for people to be paragons of conscientiousness on the job, and yet be lax in meeting their obligations to their spouses, families and communities.5
There is a further tendency among career-minded persons always to put the interests of their organizations first. Actions that may be seen as responsible in the context of the organization may be irresponsible in the context of society. Many business and political decisions taken in the name of "enlightened self-interest" are more self-interested than enlightened. They fly in the face of Dostoyevsky's dictum that "each of us is responsible to everything and to every human being."6
As an educated man of his times, Dostoyevsky was probably familiar with the philosophy of Confucius. According to the great Chinese teacher, one of the guiding principles of a worthwhile life is jen--"benevolent concern for one's fellow man." The leading interpreter of the Confucius' thought, his disciple Tseng Tzu, likened a well-spent life to a long journey with a heavy burden of jen--a burden which the bearer "has taken upon himself" without reference to external accountability. The reason for following The Way is simply to become a whole person. A "person" in the Confucian sense is the centre of a cluster of relationships as opposed to an individual separable from anyone else.
1-THIS ANNOTATED PASSAGE ACTUALLY
RAISES TWO ISSUES I THINK DESERVE CONSIDERATION BY THOSE US WHO
(STILL) WANT TO MAKE THIS A BETTER WORLD FOR "ALL OF US."
ONE, THE
INFO OVERLOAD
TWO, HAVING FREEDOM OF ACTION IN THEIR PERSONAL
LIVES" DOES NOT EXCUSE INDIVIDUALS FROM OBLIGATIONS TO
...IN PROFESSIONAL LIVES. OF COURSE I APPRECIATE HOW THIS ISSUE
IS RELEVANT TO CONSIDERATION OF THE NEED OF THE U.S. PRESIDENT
FOR AVAILABILITY OF "LIPS" (AND ONLY "LIPS,"
I TAKE IT "ALL OF US"
HAVE TO BELIEVE ARE INVOLVED, GIVEN, ULTIMATELY, THE PRODUCT:
THE VERDICT IN THE IMPEACHMENT PROCESS AND ALL ITS ATTENDANT
EVIDENCE) IN ORDER TO "DO THE PEOPLE'S BUSINESS."
2-ON THE SUBJECT OF THAT "GUILTY FEELING...," PLEASE TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE.
3-HERE MAY WELL BE A SPOT WHERE ONE OUGHT TO
MENTION--IN RELATION TO THE EXPRESSED GOAL IN THE FIRST FOOTNOTE
OF STILL HOPING TO MAKE THIS A BETTER WORLD FOR "ALL OF US"--PEOPLE ARGUING
OVER THE DEFINITION OF THE WORD "IS."
BUT I
WON'T.
I WILL DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU FIND IF YOU TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE, AND THEN YOU TAKE A SECOND BRIEF SIDESTEP
HERE.
ONLY TO EXPLAIN YOURSELF...DOES THAT MAKE YOU SAFE?
HOW DOES THE UMPIRE'S DECISION FULFILL THE LAW DEFINED BY THE
UIC SIX WEEK FIASCO
4-EXPLAIN ABOUT SAYING TO DOLE IN 1978, LEAVING SALARY SETTLEMENT UP TO SITTING U.S. PRESIDENT, AND THE U.S. CONSULATE REFERRING TO STATE'S LIASON WITH CONGRESS.
5-SEE FOOTNOTE ABOVE RE NEEDING "LIPS (AND ONLY "LIPS")" TO "DO THE PEOPLE'S BUSINESS"...
6-GAIA THEORY AND REFERENCE TO IT TO WRIGHT OR BYRD AND LINK TO KARMA AND EXPOUND RE THAT BUDDHIST/HINDU WORD CROSSING OVER INTO MAINSTREAM...WAIT FOR IT: SEE NEXT PARAGRAPH RE JEN
FOR JIANG ZEMIN REFERENCE TO CHINESE PROVERB
DON'T THINK THE WISDOM OF THOMAS JEFFERSON IS PASSÉ YET IN WHAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO FROM YOUR GOVERNMENT? LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD: TAKE A BRIEF SIDESTEP HERE TO SIGN MY GUESTBOOK.
link to religions must work together thing with all religions having followers willing to die for cause