Shades Of The 60's
By William Bailey (03/28/03)
"Make love not war"
"If it feels good, do it"
Remember those signs and posters ? They came out of an era that, I believe, history will record as the origin of what's wrong with us today.
From this period came the notion that you didn't have to worry about personal responsibility . . . you just did what "felt good" and didn't worry about the consequences. Don't worry about the law . . . if you didn't like it, break it . . . disregard it.
Well, unfortunately, the very real consequence that came out of that time in our history has created a culture of "victims". A group that has thrown aside the notion that each person is responsible for his/her own actions. This concept has found its insipid way into every facet of our daily lives. Government . . . public education . . . the legal system . . . our very culture. All have been attacked by this philosophy. Some more successfully than others.
Certainly, there were laws that needed to be changed . . . there were attitudes that needed to be dealt with. And, yes . . . one of the privileges of living in a free society is having the ability to dissent and/or disagree with the actions of the government. However, there are proper and appropriate ways to have the necessary changes take place. Many were changed.
The activists of the 60's took their stand claiming the protection of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (as are the protesters of today). And, while there is no doubt that the First Amendment grants the "right" of free speech, there is nothing that enables the "protester" (then or now) to destroy public or private property . . . disrupt the normal conduct of government or business, etc.
Another of the serious and unfortunate results of what came out of the 60's was the "planting of the seed" in the minds of our young people that that was the right approach. You can call it what you will, it was the planting of a poison that, in great measure, has caused the demise of personal responsibility. And, when personal responsibility is diminished, the very cornerstones of the society involved begin to crumble.
Let me repeat so that there can be no misunderstanding . . . the privilege of dissent is provided under the Constitution of the United States. The abandonment of personal responsibility is not . . . and never has been.
This is not intended to be an attack on any person, group or issue. There is no doubt that there is a lot in our country that needs to be addressed. But, there are reasonable ways to go about it. It appears, at least to this writer, that the simplest and most direct way to resolve what's wrong is to return to government under the provisions of the Constitution of the United States . . . and the re-establishment of the notion of personal responsibility. Of course, taking those two steps means that we must teach our young people that the earlier concept was wrong. We have to educate them in what the Constitution provides . . . and the responsibility that we have to each other . . and the responsibility that we, as a society, have to other societies around us.
To do otherwise will do nothing but perpetuate and allow this misnomer to grow and flourish.
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