WHATEVER

HAPPENED TO
PERSONAL
RESPONSIBILITY
WHO WE ARE
NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT PEOPLE






By Professor Steven Reiss, Ph.D

09/04/2013 Whatever Happened to Personal Responsibility? | Psychology Today
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/who-we-are/201006/whatever-happened-personal-responsibility 1/2
Although we will have to wait for the results of the Department of Justice's
investigation, news reports suggest that BP executives may have been
criminally negligent in regard to the Gulf oil spill. The right wing is calling
for severe penalties on corporate BP. The left wing is blaming America's
oil addiction. What seems likely is that nobody is going to prosecute and
punish BP executives as individuals. No wonder oil company executives
cut corners: f they get away with it, they are rewarded with higher pay. f
they get caught, they just retire to their generous retirement plans.
Like students do, maybe BP thought that if the well blew up they would
get a "do over" or an opportunity for "extra credit" to make up for the spill
or their lawyers would take care of it. That is how it is becoming in
America, from cradle to tomb. "Okay, America, substituted cheap
pipes. Okay, didn't hire enough people. And maybe knew the blow
out preventer had flaws. Yup, we bribed the regulators with sex and
money. But don't blame us: Blame the government for not regulating us.
And while you're at it, blame society for its oil addiction."
Millions of Americans have lost their jobs because of fraudulent
mortgages. AG sold trillions of dollars in insurance with few funds held in
reserve. Wall Street brokers invented bets and sold them to old ladies.
The Wall Street firms have paid billions in fines for these transgressions,
but who has gone to jail besides Bernie Madoff? Why aren't we
prosecuting the individuals who committed mortgage fraud? don't want
to see Goldman Sachs go under, nor do care about the brokers who
sold CDOs to large banks. want to see in jail the brokers who sold exotic
securities to widows beginning with the bum who sold such a security to
my 95 year-old mother-in-law who had trusted him as her late husband's
friend.
Not holding people responsible begins at an early age in our schools,
where discipline has become a legal matter. f a student flunks statewide
exams, which are really simple, it's the system's fault for administering
"high stakes" tests, and not the student's fault for goofing off all day
rather than studying. When graduated high school, some of my

New ways of thinking about people
by Steven Reiss, Ph.D.
Whatever Happened to Personal Responsibility?
Blame me and 'll sue
Published on June 14, 2010 by Steven Reiss, Ph.D. in Who We Are

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.
Reggie Bush is a good case in point. Playing for the University of Southern California, he won the
2005 Heisman Trophy as the most outstanding college football player in the USA, while his team won
the national championship. The results of an NCAA investigation, however, found that Bush
knowingly broke the rules by allowing a sports agent hoping to represent him someday to provide
free housing for his parents. Although Bush might have to return some awards, he is safe and sound
as a very well paid professional football player. His coach at the time of his violations, Pete Carroll, is
now coaching the Seattle Seahawks professional football team and will not be punished. The
penalties go to the school, USC, and its current football players who will be barred from bowl games
for a couple of years. The people most responsible for the violation -- Bush and his coaches -- go
mostly unpunished.
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09/04/2013 Whatever Happened to Personal Responsibility? | Psychology Today
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Tags: college football player, criminal behavior, gulf oil, misbehavior, oil spill, professional football
player, reggie bush, retirement plans, university of southern california
classmates went to college and the others went to work. Now some
educators want to give college diplomas for on the job experience. What
used to be called "not going to college" now will be called "going to
college." Of course, the colleges will be asking for their tuition for
students not going to college but getting a degree anyway. The colleges
get rich, while the students go without good paying jobs.
Oh sure some politicians say, "The buck stops here," but they never
accept any penalty for messing up. These days, saying "the buck stops
here" is just words.
t is time to blame the wrongdoers and stop blaming the society/system
when things go wrong. Go after the individuals, not the companies for
whom the individuals work. Put authority back in the schools so
Americans grow up learning that they can't roll the system the way they
could roll the teachers and principals. Sadly, you could make a case
that BP exectuvies acted a lot like the students in our schools who cut
corners because after all nobody is punished and everybody gets a
second and third and fourth chance and there are zillions of advocates
ready to blame someone else.
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