Playing The Blame Game

We have become a nation of “blamers”.  It seems that no person is ever to blame for anything undesirable that happens to them.  We can all think of many instances of this: whites are to blame for many blacks who remain outside the mainstream;  the rich are to blame for poverty; employees are to blame for incompetent/ineffective employees; the school systems are to blame for functional illiteracy;  lending institutions and credit card companies are to blame for consumer debt;  drug peddlers are to blame for addiction;  tobacco companies are to lame for the many ill results of tobacco use;  the fast food industry is to blame for obesity;  auto companies are to blame for traffic deaths and injuries;  servers and bartenders are to blame from drunk driving;  gun makers/sellers are to blame for most murders and robberies;  atheists and agnostics are to blame for the decrease in moral and ethical behavior;  and on and on until it should be enough to embarrass us all.  Indeed, no matter what undesirable thing happens to us, you can be certain someone else was to blame.

For sure, there are varying degrees of truth in all of these.  There can be no doubt that white racism made life harder for American blacks.  And, there are some truisms here:  were there no guns, the death rate from shooting would be zero.  Were there no automobiles, the traffic death rate would plummet (there would still be the occasional horse and buggy hit-and-run, people falling from horseback, etc.).

So what, you might ask, who really cares?  Well, at a minimum, always blaming others reinforces irresponsible behavior.  But, that is not the worst of it.  No, there is a much more subtle thing that goes with the attitude of “victimization”.  Think about this…

If I am black, and the conditions of my life are not what I want, and I blame these conditions on some nameless, faceless “white people”,  then, by definition, my circumstances cannot possibly improve until those “white people” either stop whatever they are doing and/or start whatever they are not doing, to improve my  life.  Meanwhile, until that happens, I am pretty much helpless, unable to do anything to advance my own situation.

If my health is not what I wish it were and I blame tobacco companies, fast food vendors, etc. for my condition, then I am bound to stay unhealthy until either I die, or all those evil merchants cease to make and sell their poisons.  And, I am helpless until then because, by definition, so long as tobacco is available, I must use it.  So long as junk food can be obtained, I must eat it.

If I am wallowing in debt, possibly facing bankruptcy or the loss of everything I have accumulated, and I blame the lenders, the credit card companies, and the “evil rich” for my condition, then, by definition, I am doomed to debt slavery.  So long as lenders will lend me money, credit card companies will  issue me cards, so long as the rich keep just getting richer, then I am, indeed, doomed.  There is nothing whatever I can do to change my own situation.

I hope you all ave noticed by now that the recurring theme in the snippets above is this:  to the extent that you blame others for your situation – any situation, then you have given those others a level of control over you and your life.  All you can do is wait for those others to mend their evil ways, or, worse yet, turn to government to be your savior.  Either way, you forfeit freedom and you forfeit control of your own life.

Now, if your life ambition is to be the human equivalent of a farmyard animal, dependent on some other human(s) for the necessities of life, and subject to their every whim, then I suggest that accepting your victim status and waiting for a miracle to occur, is your right.  If that is the case, rejoice in your victim status and shut up about it because the rest of us have more important things to worry about.

If, on the other hand, you prefer freedom and control over your own life, then I suggest you try a new point of view.  Take a long, clear look at your life, determine those areas where you would genuinely like change (presumably improvement), then ask yourself, with total honesty, what keeps you from making that change.  Look even deeper and consider how much of what needs to be done, can actually be done by you.  For sure, there might be things that others could do to make it easier for you – but, relying on that would just put you back into victim mode.  Focus instead on the part you can do — then do it.  Not only will this get you closer to what you really want, it will give you feelings of freedom, dignity and self control that in themselves are worth the effort.

I realize there is yet another group who are dependent simply because they do not have a clue how things work.  They want to be paid more because they are totally ignorant of the relationship between productivity/employee value and the pay one receives.  They have no problem with government handouts because they haven’t a clue how government gets the money it hands them, have no clue that they are demanding that their fellow citizens be mugged by government in order to meet their demands.  They envy the rich because they haven’t a clue how one becomes rich, that riches most often come from doing what others want, rather than doing them wrong.  The people in this group can only be pitied because only education can save them and I see no indication that those currently in power want to educate the ignorant out of government dependence.  Instead, they are willing to sacrifice these people for their own power.  Those of us who know better will have to rescue these people, if, indeed, they are ever to be rescued.

One last thought about envying the rich… am I the only one to notice that this is almost always directed toward rich business people?  For some reason, those among the super-rich who make their millions because of their ability to play with a ball or other child’s toy — or those who are paid outrageous amounts for their ability to look “sexy” while reciting words written by someone else, these folks are never among the “evil” rich.  OK, I know these people are paid what the marketplace deems they are worth.  But, so are most business executives.  Obviously, excessive pay and evil riches are in the eye of the beholder.  Get a clue.

And, take responsibility for your own outcomes.  Do not be a volunteer slave to anyone or anything – especially a government.

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