I’m back on the blog trail. Expect more from me in the future, including video blogs and a redesigned website. And don’t forget, my book is coming.  In the meantime, I just listened to President Obama deliver an education/back to school speech to school age children in Philadelphia and I thought the message was on target.  He mentioned the role of teachers, administrators, government, and parents in the successful education of children, but he also stressed to the children the responsibility they have for their own education and success.  A message which is often overlooked in the conversation on education in America.

The children need to know what America is actually like as a society.  In America, you are responsible for yourself and you will experience the results of your actions, whether good or bad.  It’s tough love in this country and though there is a strong charitable and philanthropic impulse in the nation, it is not the way the society generally works.  Giving is a personal decision, while personal responsibility for your life, education, family, finances, and business etc. is the culture of the nation as a whole.  A reality which cannot be stressed enough. 

However, the truth be told, that message delivered today by President Obama is more suited for adults than children.  Children are by nature dependant on others for everything from guidance, to resources, to encouragement, to protection, to food, clothing, and shelter.  While adults on the other hand should be held almost wholely responsible for their condition and state of affairs.   

Ironically, we find in the popular American discourse that the message of personal responsibility is often only limited to folks who are at a disadvantage from the start.  And here is where I take exception. 

I am notorious for advocating taking personal responsibiltiy for one’s condition because ultimately it’s your condition.  It is a discipline that I live by, however the difference is that I include everyone in that equation.  I include small business owners, big business, wall street, banks, special interest groups etc..  All are responsible for their outcomes.

If personal responsibility, accountability, and consequences are the messages delivered to the poor, the young, and the disadvantaged then then those messages have to be delivered across the board to everyone.   

It is disingenuous to offer one group billions of dollars in aid, subsidies, bailouts, and tax benefits and then say to the another group “take responsibility for yourself and get up on your own two feet”.  It is inconsistent.  If everyone is responsible for their fate and condition then that includes everyone; even the banks.   I told you this was tough love. 

But if you help one, then you can help the other.  

And to President Obama’s credit or detriment depending upon how you view it, he has been pretty fair and liberal in his distribution of checks to the various segments of the country. 

I just wonder if that approach square’s well with the message of personal responsibilty for all. 

Because saying it and having the discipline to watch people and institutions feel the impact of their actions are two different things. 

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Michael Billion.