Responsibility-Suburban Style

My wife and I—as I have previously written—are hard-core walkers.  As a consequence, the arrival of winter did not deter us from perambulating around our suburban neighborhood.  This practice has not, to date, been impeded by a remarkably mild season.

As a result, we get to see our neighbors working in their yards.  Come spring, their lawns and flowers will be extraordinarily beautiful because they are tending to them now.  No doubt, the grass will be green and the blooms prolific.

But then it occurred to me that this was no accident.  My neighborhood is as charming as it is because the people who live in it are hard workers.  Were they not, they could not have afforded the lovely homes they occupy.  Were they not, the streets would not be clean or the buildings in good repair.

These are responsible folks.  They care about their surroundings and put in the effort to keep them attractive.  They do not passively expect others to do this for them.  Either they push the lawnmowers themselves, or they pay people to do so.

How different this is from other precincts in our society.  A creeping sense of entitlement has converted personal responsibility into an antique creed.  Strangers are supposed to take care of us.  We do not have to try our best.  Neither are we to blame when things go wrong.  These duties can be left to anonymous outsiders.

This attitude is revealed in the countless marchers who demand additional government services.  It is on display when my students refuse to study, but expect good grades anyway.  These layabouts assume they deserve whatever they want because they want it.

The United States is a wealthy nation therefore many people believe they also deserve to be wealthy.  Unlike my neighbors—who are not wealthy, but comfortable—they do not connect their current situation with what they have personally done.

But no nation can prosper if its inhabitants are irresponsible.  None can retain its treasure if half its citizens expect to be supported by the other half.  As might once have been said: goods and services do not grow on trees.  Of if they do, the trees have to be sprayed and trimmed.

I say that suburbanites are responsible people, but so are most who live in rural areas.  My father-in-law is a retired farmer.  If I had not known it before I married my wife, dealing with him underlined how hard farmers work.  On a farm, there are tasks to be performed.  If not, the crops wither and the livestock starve.

Factory and construction workers also exert themselves.  If they are not responsible, machines break down or buildings tumble to the ground.  These folks have to pay attention and correct whatever errors they make.  Shirkers actually endanger the lives of those around them.

So why is this no longer the conventional wisdom?  Why do so many nowadays believe that prudence consists in soughing responsibilities off onto others?  They trust that if they can get something for free, it makes no sense to sweat over it.

But they are wrong.  My neighbors, when spring comes, will not only be encircled by beauty—they will know they played a part in creating it.  They will also have the satisfaction of realizing they are productive beings.  They matter; they are worthy of respect.

The drones, on the other hand, may get by, but they will not flourish.  Dependent as they are on the good will of others, they are forced to defer to the status of their patrons.  Not they, but their benefactors, deserve the credit for their good fortune.

What is worse is that irresponsible people tend not to live in comfort.  Because they do not take care of what they can they are trapped in filth and decay.  How do I know?  I once worked for the New York City Welfare Department.  I saw the wages of neglect and unreliability first hand.  It would be tragic if this becomes the national norm.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University