Vice and Virtue I - Responsibility

Hello everyone, in the "Vice and Virtue" series of articles I plan to give some food for thought regarding the nature of civilization, societies, and the values we can all stand behind. The civilized world is under an onslaught of barbarism, which is aided by the seditious activities of divisive forces at home. These destructive forces challenge us to define what we value and cherish, what we believe in, what we refuse to accept, and as a result - who we are.
It is my humble hope that the thoughts shared here would spur some discussion, and I am more than willing to integrate the ideas of others, with due credit, along the way.
So, without further ado, let us begin.

It is unclear to me when exactly did Responsibility turn into a profane word that nobody wants to hear, let alone adopt, but if I ever had to draw one connecting line between all the forces that seek to undo civilization, it would be their lack of personal responsibility.
Over my long period of studying society and human behavior, I couldn't help but notice the glaring similarities between feminist-brainwashed women, leftists, and muslims. For leftists or Muslims, America, Europe, India, and Israel are always wrong; for feminists - it is men. For leftists, primitive brutes are always victims, who are not accountable for their actions; for feminists it is women; and for muslims - themselves.
Both Islamic and Feminist organizations use deception and outright lies to advance their agendas: leaving poor, honest people stumped, as they struggle to defend themselves against ridiculous, irrational, and sometimes imaginary charges.
Finally, Socialists, Muslims, and Feminists, all claim to work towards some Utopian future - one with no class-differences, infidels... or men.

These similarities: a simple "us Vs. them", master-slave, oppressor-oppressed world view; the blatant disregard for the truth, justice, or civilized conduct; and a dream of some perfect, uncomplicated future, are not coincidental. Neither it is coincidence that so many of these groups, which originated in advanced first-world societies, find allies amongst backward, barbaric murderers.

It is because the face of the current generation is that of a child.

Irresponsible, frivolous, self-centered, and undependable - the rebellious teenager, and spoiled infant, have become role-models, rather than undesirables.
Open a TV set, flip through a few random popular channels, and tell me if you can find a role-model for children that does more than inflate his muscles, wear ridiculous jewelry, own a big house (or an even bigger car), get drunk at parties while taking her clothes off, or use multiple, semi-clothed women as scenery for his barely-literate song lyrics.
Glorified meat bags are an easy dream to sell, because they create the illusion that anyone can be a respected, loved and revered, for no other reason than fame itself, no matter how it has been achieved. In fact, the more notorious the path to celebrity status, the better - especially if it has nothing to do with hard work, or having an active brain. Like a lottery contest for dysfunctional halfwits, all one has to do is sign up for some contest, and hope his number comes up.

You won't see a courageous woman like Elisabeth Sabadditsch-Wolfe given a prime-time show, but put a spoiled, useless brat like Paris Hilton in a ranch, and voile! TV gold. In fact, the female role-models of today are so terrible, this issue is worth a separate article by itself. And yet I can't help but mention how every Hollywood scientist somehow manages to maintain a perfect hairdo, and work out in the gym three hours a day, when she's supposed to be diffusing nuclear weapons.

For at least half a century, the culture of the civilized world has regressed into Infantilism: adolescents who are forever locked in a struggle with their parents, and refuses to embrace an adult role - even when they become parents themselves.
When a mother treats her daughter as a friend, you know she is so irresponsibly insecure, as to abdicate the very role she took upon giving birth.

Artists create meaningless art, and are more interested in being 'weird', or technologically interesting, than delivering a real message and providing inspiration. If forced, they may mumble something about a cause that's acceptable in their own clique - like being anti-war, or anti-brain. What's left is a constant cry for attention, without an added value to society.

Journalists take the easy route, as one's personal career is always more important than telling the truth, or dealing with hard issues that others fear mentioning - you know, what actual journalism is all about. Instead, they tackle problems that will give them consensus, while avoiding bigger issues. The collective gung-ho on the imaginary crimes of Israel, while turning two blind eyes and a chopped arm to the entire muslim world, sticks out as one obvious example of this behavior.

In the world of science, research projects are being skewed (or ignored), in order to provide a result that was predetermined by private organizations. I'm not even going to get into how being a person of science has transformed from a respected, enviable, and sought after status, to that of dorks and nerds - people so uninteresting that they can't possibly have more to say about the world than fifteen-year-old clubbers, even if they invented everything that the later enjoy, from motorized vehicles and 4000 watt amplifier systems, to cellphones, wireless internet, and the 'day after' pill.

Even religion has taken a step backward into superstition: easy-to-digest mystical stories and magical tricks, that offer a sense of satisfaction and identity, without the burden of duty. Every Harry Potter and Madonna wannabe embrace some form of Kabbalah and Paganism, in the hope of, possibly, riding a broom into the air, healing the universe (without confronting evil, great idea!), and sprouting trees by waving their Phoenix tail magic wand (and if you believe in that, care to buy my own Griffin wand for the reasonable price of 9,999.99$?).

Carpe Diem has become the phrase of the day - spend money you don't have, chase the next adrenaline or sexual rush, and to hell with anyone that might get hurt in the way - including yourself. The only thing that matters is to live for the now, and have no regrets (because weighing decisions taken requires responsibility - that obnoxious trait of 'squares').
But having fun all the time is an empty, closed circuit goal, that eventually leaves those who pursue it empty, because living for the sake of oneself fails to produce meaningful emotional connections. Sure, irresponsible risk taking may have an aura of heroics, but true heroes are those who contribute to others, or at least take risks for an important cause. Taking one bungee jump, for fun, is nothing to judge a person by. Taking one every day, on the other hand, is darn-right stupid.
And when that emptiness finally takes hold, all the lash-outs and blames against the adults and their 'boring discipline' cannot fix it, just like when a civilization that stood in place for centuries, never acknowledging the errors of its past, cannot expect to miraculously be more advanced than those who did.

And so, lastly, this ongoing adolescence has proliferated all the way to the top: politicians have become so irresponsible, that they blame the voter for not following suit with their plans. Rather than acknowledge their failure to perform their intended role as representatives of the public, they turn on it.
If they can never be wrong, and the other side is never right, is it any wonder, then, that the American president himself refers to his people as gun toting bible nuts?

Here in Israel, when a general, politician, tycoon, or some other high-ranker is being caught (for just breaking the rules isn't even considered immoral), you can be sure than instead of a resignation, there would be a parade of their close friends attesting to the criminal's clean soul, and white bedsheets. The only thing that's important is saving one's career, because, after all, personal responsibility is a dirty word that doesn't get one anywhere.
The essence of corruption is people in power who put themselves above their roles.

So, for all of the above, I advocate the value of Responsibility.
What is this 'responsibily', you ask? Well, it is a part of the thought process that considers the effects and consequences of one's actions on others. It requires some imagination for making educated guesses, a caring for someone besides the 'self', or at the bare minimum to be able to reject an unfamiliar idea, until it is more fully understood.

Responsibility: in relationships, when every side invests in a long-term connection, rather than take what they can, play petty power games, and blame the other when things go wrong; in a workplace, when one aspires to perform his job as it was meant to be, and to his full ability, rather than focus on accomplishing as little as possible, while exploiting his employer (or subordinates); in government, where leaders should put the utmost, grave importance on the future lives of their subjects, rather than steal their money and vacation in Spain; in art, where the power of creativity can be put to inspire minds - both young and old, instead of providing superficial sophistication, with no real content behind it; in both personal and national economics, to promote self-reliance and balanced spending, rather than become indebted to foreign powers until the end of time; and in education, where teachers and parents are to take the hard route of shaping a young mind to be a civilized, respectable, and responsible adult, rather than cater to their crying tantrums, and unleash immature babies that end up hurting the whole of society.

A responsible society is a healthy society - one that can withstand the onslaught of seditious, destructive ideologies. A responsible society knows that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance, because as long as there is freedom, there would be those who seek to subvert and destroy it. Responsibility leads to courage, and courage leads to unity. It is a more difficult path, but a necessary one for survival. Therefore, men and women who show a true sense of duty deserve the utmost respect, and have every reason to be proud of themselves.

To summarize, would you rather place your fate in the hands of men like these:
Or these?

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Next Virtue: Loyalty