Guest Column: Accountability and responsibility

By Medicine Hat News Opinon on February 26, 2018.

Each year, the Webster Dictionary adds a number of news words to its pages. This is necessary because we need language to describe our lives and the things around us. If we need new language as our world changes, does it not seem reasonable that some words may, at some point, no longer be needed? It seems to me that accountability, responsibility and even common sense are words that are disappearing from our lives.

I was raised in the era where my parents always knew where I was and what I was doing. I was taught to respect all others, especially my parents, others in authority and those older than me and to obey the law. At the same time I was taught to respect myself and never to succumb to bullying and disrespect from others. I was taught that whatever I experience in the world and the success I achieve will be a direct result of my abilities, opportunities and the effort I put in. The caveat was that things can go wrong and life is not always fair but that I should always go on and accept responsibility for my mistakes and bad judgments.

Too many parents today want to be a friend to their kids rather than a parent. Too many choose to protect them rather than hold them accountable. As a police officer, the first time I came in contact with a child who made a mistake, I could tell, with a great deal of certainty, if I would have further contact with that child. I could tell, not by dealing with the child, but by dealing with the parents. Supporting children in dealing with the consequences of their mistakes creates responsible adults, protecting and lying for them does not.

Attempting to ensure that every child is the same and all are destined to be equally successful results in children and subsequently adults, who are entitled and expect to achieve success through minimal effort. These people come to expect the government to provide what they believe they are entitled to, simply through their existence on this planet. They call those things human rights or some in Canada might call them “people” rights. Populations of many countries have had four to five thousand years to progress and develop yet many are still starving. North America has had about 500 years. This fact alone should show us that we have no right to anything that we do not achieve through opportunities we create and the effort we put in.

We created laws designed to ensure that people can live together in harmony under an agreed upon set of rules. Some are now OK with breaking the law and resorting to violence if they alone feel their cause is justified. All too frequently our politicians and law enforcement are willing to ignore or attempt to justify these violations. This can lead only to more disrespect for the law and ultimate anarchy.

Our schools, while professing to promote original thought, teach our children to be dependent and entitled. Some in our progressive schools try to protect them from original thought with safe spaces and token support for the principles of free speech while suppressing individual rights and initiatives. We allow people to blame anyone but themselves for the realities of their lives. Hillary Clinton is the classic example. She felt so entitled to be president that she blames almost everyone except herself for her election loss and only like thinking people would ever vote for someone like that.

As a driving instructor, I would caution students about taking their road test before they were ready. Some would ignore my advice, believing they knew better and found themselves standing in the corner of the licence office crying over their first experience in the real world and their first failure ever.

We need to understand that it is not in the interest of progressive governments for people to be self-reliant and successful. If populations were less reliant on government, we would need much less of it. If we had less government, there would be fewer cushy jobs for the politicians and the public service unions. There would be less taxes and more opportunity to succeed for those who are willing to put in the effort. We need government to create and enforce our agreed upon rules not to run our lives. When big government says they are here to help, tell them to get out of the way. It’s a scam.

Paul McLennan moved to Alberta more than 20 years ago as a member of the RCMP. He remained in Alberta after retirement in 2002, taught driving part time and settled in Medicine Hat in 2011.

10
-9