Does anyone take responsibility for ANYTHING anymore...

I could spend an hour writing what i want to here but "Haddon Robinson put it so well I will let him tell the story...

"...Have you ever gone to a restaurant, hung up your coat, and noticed a sign warning that the management is not responsible if it gets lost or stolen? Ever read the small print on your airplane ticket? The airline takes no responsibility for any delays or missed connections, and if your baggage is lost, they only have to pay an amount agreed upon at a convention they held in Warsaw in 1955. Park your car in some high-priced garage or lot, and a sign will tell you that management is not responsible for any items lost or stolen from your vehicle. Do those "Not responsible for..." disclaimers bother you? They do me. It seems no one takes responsibility for anything anymore.

A little girl was sent to her room for misbehaving. Sometime later her mother happened to pass by her door and heard her praying. "God, I am stuck up here because of YOU, you know. Last night I prayed for you to help me be a good girl. Well, you didn't, so it's your fault!"

Sounds a bit like the conversation between God and Adam and Eve in the Garden. God asks what's going on, Adam responds by admitting that he ate the forbidden fruit, but then he blames God ("the woman YOU PUT HERE ...") and if that is not enough, he blames her ("SHE gave me some fruit from the tree"). Is SHE responsible? Ask her. Of course not! "The SERPENT DECEIVED ME, and I ate." Genesis does not actually say it, but there must have been a "Not responsible for..." sign on one of the trees in Eden.

Poor Eve - she was only a victim. She could not be held responsible for eating the fruit. Neither could Adam. "The Devil made me do it!"

Adam and Eve's descendants -- thats us guys -- have refined victimization to a fine art. We do not use victimization merely to get off; we use it to cash in. If we trip on our shoelaces and fall flat on our face in the middle of the sidewalk, we sue everybody from the City of Warren to the shoelace manufacturer.

If you want to get rich, invest in victimization. It must be America's fastest-growing industry. Millions make a fat paycheck by identifying victims, representing victims, interviewing victims, treating victims, insuring victims, counseling victims, and, of course, being victims. Not only does it confer absolution for our stupidity and sinfulness, but it allows us to sue for damages. "If you have experienced personal injury," we are assured by the lawyers in their TV commercials, "you may be entitled to compensation." Even if you stepped in front of a car when the light was against you, somebody else should pay.

Victimhood allows us to be blameless, and someone else owes big for what happened. Blamelessness is as American as the Constitution - the Fifth Amendment guarantees that no one can make you blame yourself. That being the case, when something bad happens, it cannot be your fault. It must be someone else's.

You have heard of "no-fault" automobile insurance? "No-fault" elevates victimhood to a more sophisticated plane. Both the guilty and the innocent become victims, and everybody gets to collect.

The restaurant is not responsible for your stolen coat nor the airline your delayed flight nor the garage your burglarized car. And of course, neither O. J. nor Mike Tyson nor the Enron executives are responsible for any of their problems. Neither are YOU responsible. Are you? "The Devil made me do it." Right..."