Personal Responsibility

I was listening to NPR yesterday, and a listener made an interesting comment about personal responsibility. First, let me set the context. The show was about obesity. About 15 minutes into the show, there was an e-mail message arguing against the premise of the show, which involved the idea that there might be something that will cause a person to stop "choosing" to be fat. This listener argued against the whole, "personal responsibility movement," which "promotes that fat people are fat through some failure of willpower. . ."

Uh, yes.

I guess if there is a "personal responsibility movement" then I clearly subscribe to it. Unfortunately, I see just the opposite happening today. We are quick to give into our genetic makeup and accept that "we are who we are." Genetic predestination seems to become a common excuse for everything from homosexuality to obsessed. It's almost like we are just a slave to our genes. We are being told over and over in our media to accept our genetic makeup and never fight to be any different.

I agree that we are all given different genes. We all have different gifts and different weaknesses with which to work. For some, it may mean that they are predisposed to obesity. Others may be predisposed to addiction. Others may be predisposed to violent tempers. Yet, it stops there. We then choose to be obese, addicted, or violent. This is the great thing about being a human being: we can be more than our genetic makeup.

Now, there is another approach to this "personal responsibility" discussion. (I'll stick with the obesity example simply because it is what started this discussion. I'm not trying to single out overweight people. In fact, most groups that use genetics as an excuse could used as an example). An obese person could state that society promotes unrealistic body types. As a result, this person could say that he or she is not going to try to fit those societal norms. I have no problem with a person going against society--in fact, I often applaud it. Yet, I'd have to also say that that person has made a conscious choice and must, therefore, be willing to also accept the consequences.

It just seems like there are a lot of mixed messages in the media these days. On the one hand, we still get the Romantic message to have dreams. On the other hand, we're told to accept who we are. We can "shoot for the stars" as long as they come easily. Perhaps I'm a throw-back, but I still think there is something to be said for the Protestant Work-ethic, which has kinda fallen out of favor. I believe in hard work to achieve what one desires. Yet, someone could say to me that working hard is not a guarantee in achieving the goal. I agree. There are no guarantees. Yet, it's not really about achieving the goal, is it? It's really about how one decides to live one's life. I think hard work towards a goal leads to a more fulfilled life (even if the goal is never achieved) than accepting less and living without direction.

Just think what the world would be like if everyone stopped looking for a scapegoat and started taking more personal responsibility. Overall, I think we'd have a better, and happier, society.