Charles & Peggy Robinson wrote:
"The idea that we can pass the buck for lack of good driving habits to
our lawmakers and greedy government entities is just another way of
avoiding the taking of personal responsibility for our actions. We have
too much of that already in our society. Why extend it for blaming the
other guy for our getting a ticket?"
Ah, yes. Well, in the good life, as in the good car, balance is everything.
After silently observing this exchange for the past week, it occurs to me
that one can accept personal responsibility AND insist that our "lawmakers
and greedy government entities" discharge their public trust with less
cupidity and more concern for minimum regulation consistent with safety. My
experience persuades me that most (and I mean somewhere above 95%) public
officials (including the police) are conscientious public servants and for
the most part try to do what they honestly believe to be in the public
interest. The problem is, most (and I mean somewhere above 95%) will
sometimes act as though they have the right--because they are public
officials--to define what our interests are and how they ought to be
protected. It isn't the venal that I worry about so much as the dedicated
true believer who has no problem arrogating to himself not just the right to
decide what's good for all the rest of us, but also how to pursue it.
IMHO, we need to truly accept personal responsibility by doing our best to
obey those rules that make sense to each of us (whether or not they are
convenient) while doing all we can to actively encourage our elected
officials to change the ones that don't. In the mean time, we need to
carefully watch those to whom we have entrusted power (even a little bit),
because it is so easy to be seduced into believing that YOU are the only one
that knows how to use it right.
Thanks for indulging me. I am no off my soapbox and back to contemplating
things MG.
Jay Call
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