Fear, Responsibility and Consequence

“Here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into.” Those words were frequently spoken by Oliver Hardy and the recipient of the message was usually Stan Laurel. Those of us were born in the 40’s and 50’s knew them by their duo name – Laurel and Hardy. They were comedians par excellence. For you youngsters, that means, they were top notch; very good; the best.

Now what does this have to do with deficits and debt and sacrifice and frugality, you may ask?

Let’s see if we can make a connection.

If you grew up in the 40’s and 50’s you most likely grew up with several basic truths – we like to call them, TheFundamentals. High among these truths was fear, responsibility and consequence.

Fear of your parents, your teachers, adults, police and darn near anyone else who was bigger, older or, if you were Catholic, any authority figure. Fear dominated your life.

Responsibility because whatever happened, unless you were documentably sound asleep or provably at least 100 miles away from the event, you were going to be held accountable for either the entire event or you were going to be responsible as an accessory before, during and after the fact. There was no such thing as a “grey area.” You were responsible for the mess and you would face a very real consequence.

Now, back to Laurel and Hardy. Oliver Hardy did not say, “Here’s another mess we find ourselves in.” Or, “Here’s another fine mess we inherited.” Those statements would suggest elements outside their control. Things like the environment we grew up in; the alignment of the stars on a particular day or mysterious alien forces at work over which we exercised no control. No way. There was no deflection in his words; no victimhood; no avoidance of responsibility.

They were in the mess; they got themselves in the mess. They had better figure out a way to get out of the mess. And, being responsible for the mess, they were going to get in trouble and that meant somebody doing something that would bring consequences to their sorry behind. Now forward to the present.

A recent McNeil/ Lehrer news report should have been entitled – here’s another fine mess you’ve gotten me into. It covered the following topics – oil spill, stock market crashing (financial mess), Detroit public school system disaster, immigration enforcement policy (lack thereof) and the mess in Korea. There was a common element in the finger prints on the messes and no, it was not Stan Laurel. It was government, government, government. No other conclusion to reach. Government is the dominating presence in most all that is going down in today’s world. Take the Detroit mess. Population halved from its peak; an automobile industry that has left and is thriving in many other states and foreign countries; K - 12 students who display no measurable educational improvement as a result of attending the Detroit Public Schools. The entire economy is dominated by public and private unions and decades of political leadership of the Democratic Party. The US Government is pouring money into Detroit and the state of Michigan. The one sure, reliable answer to any problem created by government is the annual increasing of funds confiscated from taxpayers and delivered to the “mess.” No one says, “Wait.” Government is the problem. Money is not the solution. Where is the fear? Where is the responsibility? Where is the consequence?

When government is the problem, fear, responsibility and consequence are missing. Government knows no fear and it suffers no consequence. If you work for the government you are protected by layers of rules, union contract stipulations and litigation avoidance laws that leave you without any consequence for your actions. As a matter of fact it becomes such a part of the mess avoidance culture that government workers and elected officials actually develop arrogance because they know there are no consequences. Think about that. If you have no fear of being held responsible; if you have no fear of suffering consequences, you become arrogant and actually thumb your nose at those who are made to be responsible and made to face consequences.

We live in society, a culture, where there is no way to cut off the money going to government. No way to close the schools. Now way to return tax funds to parents so that they can decide to send their children to a school that demands effort; demands participation and, simply, demands that you show up. In other words, a culture of responsibility, fear and consequence.

When people speak of a slippery slope, we are all living at the bottom of that slope now. Years of rule making and money spending and avoidance of responsibility and political correctness have undermined the entire footing of a culture based on fear and responsibility and consequence. We now slop around in a mess that is no longer quantifiable and no longer definable. It is not a melting pot. It is not a land of opportunity. It is a land of excuses and arrogance. It is a land without rules. Without borders.

If you are the problem you need to either exit (unlikely) or you need to be pushed out (hopefully.) And, one more thing. Saying that you take or accept responsibility such as the Party in Power in the form of their new leader and a state attorney general for “misplaced words” means nothing. Responsibility means consequence; without consequence there is no responsibility. Consequences are not self imposed. It is time for American law to impose consequences on government and elected officials and bureaucrats. Every government agency and employee needs specific objectives, independent performance measurement and drastic legal consequences to accompany their claimed “responsibility.” Now, that’s fear, responsibility and consequence. That’s real change. Remember the expression, "Trust but Verify?"  Here’s a variation – Responsibility, good; Consequences, better!