A prime example of people refusing to take responsibility for their mistakes would be President Trump. He has bumbled his way through his presidency, going from one serious gaffe to another, without serious consequences.
In the case of Trump, his preferred options are to deflect, deny, and to lie, at whatever the cost. I find this alarming because it seems to be the new norm. Maybe I'm being idealistic, but is it really that hard to admit your mistakes and to try and deal with them?
What is even more alarming to me, is people are more than happy to provide excuses, escaping consequences for those who make mistakes or misbehave. This seems especially apparent in the case of people committing crimes. Of course, some people go through things in the lives that can lead them to make bad choices, but plenty people go through absolute hell, and still come out without committing crimes.
We hear about crimes committed, subsequent trials and sentencing, with defense teams painting a picture of criminals being forced into committing their crimes. I don't doubt some were driven to commit crimes through their circumstances. I also feel this is something that's overplayed these days. The harsh truth is, everyone has choices to make.
It's only right we should be held accountable for those choices.
READ: The tragedy and irony of the storm on the U.S. Capitol
The storm on Capitol Hill reads like Shakespeare.
We see a blame culture with people making inappropriate or problematic choices while trying to attribute blame elsewhere, instead of taking it on the chin and admitting they made a mistake. This really does seem to be prolific in our society. A whole industry has been spawned from this, with accident lawyers, personal injury lawyers, etc., making a killing off the back of it.
If there is genuine blame to be placed, then that's one side of the coin.
The flip-side is, people using and abusing blame to profit or to deny any personal responsibility. In my childhood, I was taught to be honest when I messed up, take ownership, deal with the consequences, and make reparations where necessary. It would seem that some see this as a choice rather than a necessity.
I'm not perfect, far from it. I fail at times to own up when I'm wrong. However, I try to be fair and honest, and I know why this is important. The lessons I learned as a child are being carried over to my children now. Being able to admit when you are wrong, and acknowledge when you've made mistakes, is something we should all aspire to, right?
Have you got something to say about this subject? Submit a post here and start the conversation.
