Personal responsibility

I believe in personal responsibility. I believe it extends beyond just the direct consequences of our behaviour to encompass the ripple effects that extend through the whole community. This extends right down to the most trivial aspects of what we do.

When we cross the street against the pedestrian lights we become partly responsible for all the pedestrian deaths that occur each year. When we take chances driving on the road we become responsible for the deaths inflicted by others who also took chances and lost.

Drug takers are collectively responsible for the horrific murders that occur at the hands of the drug cartels. Migrants who engage with people-smugglers are responsible for the deaths at sea that result, even though they are portrayed as victims. Watch porn and you become responsible for the rape of women and the exploitation of children. Cheat on your tax and you become a party to the billions of dollars of white-collar crime that occurs. A little bit of racism? Then you become complicit in the deaths of indigenous people in custody.

Each thing we do has an influence on others. Every thing we do matters.