Personal Responsibility: An Oxymoronic Perspective
Nick Summers
Gen/200
March 28, 2012
Vlad Bolmar, Instructor
Personal Responsibility: An Oxymoronic Perspective By definition, an oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory words and turns them into an acceptable and understandable phrase. For example, “jumbo shrimp” and “pretty ugly” are common oxymoronic expressions. In fact, the word “oxymoron” itself is an oxymoron taken from the Greek words oxy (meaning "sharp" or "pointed") and moros (meaning "dull"). Regretfully, the phrase “personal responsibility” in today’s society is fast becoming an oxymoron. This is because so many of today’s young people are being raised with a sense of entitlement, ease, and luxury. Many of them don’t see the correlation between responsibility and success. And, as a result, when life’s misfortunes arise—and they always will—their first knee-jerk reaction is to blame other people or circumstances for their own personal woes. This, in turn, only compounds the problem by making the person feel as if they are a victim: powerless, helpless, and unable to change themselves or control any future condition. Consider the words of Steven Reiss, Ph.D. (2010), “We live in an era where few people are held responsible for their misbehavior. From elementary school children who don't do homework to oil company CEOs who engage in criminal behavior, the consequences often seem to fall on the system rather than on the people who actually misbehaved.” Common sense tells us that if you do not make a child accountable for the homework he neglects to do, he will not feel the need to change his behavior anytime soon. Additionally, if parents do not give their children simple chores around the house, or make them accountable for misdeeds, those children eventually become lazy, unmotivated, and ungrateful. Furthermore, the mindless and endless hours of playing video games is not helping the situation. Video games today seem to have a single message aimed at all young people: if you want something (like a new car), all you have to do is take it. No financial contract required. Drive a shiny new Lexus around Farmville for a while, then crash it and start over with a new make and model after you get bored. Rinse and repeat. Undoubtedly, the onslaught of video games in today’s society has distorted our perception of reality. Gone are the days when obtaining something of value required a little moxie. However, the truth is, any worthwhile achievement still requires planning and hard work. That fact has not changed. What has changed is our perception of the issue. Great achievements have always required blood, sweat and tears. Great accomplishments require sacrifice. (Ask nearly any college graduate about his or her college experience and you will surely hear the woeful tales of Top Ramon meals, too few social interactions, and how countless nights were spent doing homework instead of enjoying blissful sleep.) Even Hollywood senses the problem. Consider the words of comedian/radio personality Adam Carolla who recently made the following exclamation in one of his podcast, "There's something that's come up in this country that didn't used to exist. And that's envy. We're now dealing with the first wave of participation-trophy [adolescents]." (Carolla, 2011). He has a valid point. If you give a “participation trophy” (my new favorite oxymoron) to the losing team, then no one really loses. Everybody wins. And home-brewed values such as perseverance, determination, and encouraging phrases like “we’ll get ‘em next time slugger” are eventually lost from the human psyche. Gone forever are first-hand experiences and heart-aches that would have better shaped our little-leaguer’s character. After all, why “try harder” when “hardly trying” makes you feel just as good about yourself? I am not advocating, of course, that the losing team be mocked or scored by the winning team, but do they really need a trophy for just showing up? Who’s to blame here? Did these philosophies get their start in the late 60s and early 70s when neo-psychologists told parents everywhere that if little Johnny ever felt bad about himself—for any reason—he’d be scarred for life? We will never know for sure. But let us not forget one of nature’s simple observations: unless the caterpillar struggles a little, the butterfly will not survive. Further evidence of how responsibility has gone awry is even found in today’s media and their sponsorships. Words like “the views expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the management, owners or operators of this station” are popping up everywhere. Once upon a no-so-long-ago time, companies would only associate their good names and products with television programs that upheld the company’s core values. Nowadays, content is irrelevant. Just give us cheap airtime. And if something goes awry, the fiasco cannot be linked back to us. Everyone seems to want a piece of the pie, but no one wants to help out in the kitchen. Unbelievably, in its most extreme form, total irresponsibility by all members of a society would eventually lead that society into disorganized chaos. Thomas Szasz, a renowned psychoanalyst, once wrote, “There is no such thing as insanity. There are only varying levels of irresponsibility.” In other words, the more irresponsible we become, the less in-tune we become with ourselves and the negative consequences that follow. Fortunately, personal responsibility is a choice that individuals can still benefit from. In fact, it appears that responsibility on any level is the one and only sure key to all of life’s opportunities. Self-help author and motivational speaker Brian Tracy has said: “Responsibility goes hand in hand with success, achievement, motivation, happiness and self-actualization. It’s the absolute minimum requirement for the accomplishment of everything you could ever really want in life.” Harmonically, author-editor Michael Korda has affirmed, “Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility...In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility.” (The Ownership Spirit Handbook, pg. 35). So how can each man, woman, and child use this single common denominator of success to their advantage? The answer is both simple and complex. It is simple because the concept of responsibility can be taught to a three-year old; it is complex because assuming any role where responsibility counts can be both stressful and exhausting. Yet, it is imperative that each of us sees the undeniable connection that exists between personal responsibility and personal success. Life requires that we understand that other people and circumstances cannot be blamed for our short-comings. Only by taking risks, learning from our mistakes, and being committed to our goals at every expense—only by taking personal responsibility seriously—will each of us be blessed with everything we want and hope for in life. And, yes, that is true even if what you want is a shiny new Lexus.

References

Borgman, S. (n/a). Personal development strategies - how to take responsibility for your actions. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Personal-Development-Strategies---How-to-Take-Responsibility-for-Your-Actions&id=6757830
Carolla, A. (Podcaster). (2011, November 18). Troy Duffy [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from The Adam Carolla Show website: http://www.adamcarolla.com/troy-duffy/
Deaton, D. (2003). The Ownership Spirit Handbook. Mesa, AZ: Quma Learning Systems, Inc..
Reiss Ph.D., S. (2010). Whatever happened to personal responsibility?. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/who-we-are/201006/whatever-happened-personal-responsibility
Tracy, B. (n.d.). Taking Personal Responsibility. Retrieved from http://www.successmethods.org/brian_tracy-a19.html