NO ONE'S TO BLAME IN A WORLD OF VICTIMS

Has anyone else noticed the current trend of detaching responsibility from
the individual, by attaching it to someone, or something else?

Take Vancouver's embrace of drug use as a social disease. It may be
politically correct and progressive, but in this program, where's my
motivation to get off drugs?

If I receive money from social assistance, my needles are free and the
police don't roust me from fixing - as long as I'm in the alleys, because
the courts won't process the charges - why would I stop? I'd have to go to
work, pay taxes.

I'd like to stop but I don't have the energy to try. I'm a drug addict - so
feel sorry for me.

Years ago it was harder to be a drug addict because the police would chase
them from the alleys; courts would support arrests with fines or jail time.

Addicts risked disease from dirty needles and the majority of citizens did
not accept drug use. Today, however, it's a social problem.

But society never stuck that first needle in my arm; I did. And the reality
is if I can't get a clean needle, I'm going to use a dirty one. If my
government cheque doesn't cover my drug needs for the week, or the day, or
the hour, I need to get money somewhere else.

I don't have a job, but you do and your car is parked outside your office.

Thanks. Because your stereo or cell phone is going to help me buy drugs so
I can feel better. I'll need more later so I might have to break into
another car. But remember it's not my fault -I have a social problem.

Too simple? Maybe, but getting off drugs is difficult, not impossible. And
most heroin addicts don't start out using heroin. They made a personal
choice, at some point in their life, to use recreational drugs. It is a
choice that may ultimately lead them down a road they never thought they'd
travel and have no wish to stay on, but initially, it was still a personal
choice they made to try drugs.

This lack of personal responsibility is not unique to the drug culture. Look
at your work place, your social circles, your government. It's everywhere.

My boss buys me a drink, which makes me thirsty for more, which leads me to
a second bar where I get stupid, drive and crash. The alcohol may have
affected my abilities to drive, and think clearly, but initially I still had
a choice to take the first drink and go home, or not to take the drink at
all.

My son's hockey team may not be doing as well as some would like. I can
accept that the teams we play are better than we are or I blame it on
something else, like the officiating.

But if I really believe the referees aren't doing their job, I have a choice
about what action to take. I can berate the officials from the stands, or I
can pick up a pen and articulate my opinions and concerns to the referees'
association.

Of course it is easier to collect a cheque and get high than to stick with
a program to get you clean. It takes less effort to yell at the ref during
the game than to write a letter. It is simpler to blame the boss for buying
you a drink than to accept the consequences of drinking and driving.

We are living in a time where the person with the best excuse wins, where
nothing is really anyone's fault. But if no one is accountable, no one is
responsible, what happens then?

Life will be easier, but how will we maintain moral, ethical and cultural
standards or maintain law and order in a society where nobody is responsible
for anything? If we don't admit to mistakes, how do we learn from them?

We have only to look at the last few years to see how the lack of
accountability has eroded our confidence in governments. Think fast
ferries, the health care crisis. It started with one person passing the
buck and then every one else playing Hot Potato with it.

Maybe the spineless juggling is the real social disease.

There are those who believe, eventually, we all answer to a Higher Power for
our actions. That may be so. I still think it wouldn't hurt all of us to
start taking responsibility now, here on Earth.