OK, so I as much as I love the subject line of this blog entry, I cannot take credit for it. A friend of mine at work said that earlier this week, and it made me laugh out loud. As I heard/read a couple of things that made me think "what the fuck?", I thought his phrase was apropos this bloggage.
Woman Sued for Rescue Effort in Car Crash
Yeah, if you haven't heard of this, you gotta check it out. ABC News story
This truly makes me wonder what our world is coming to. You witness a car accident & try to aid those involved, and end up getting sued for your efforts? To quote cite the article directly
Peter Keane, a dean emeritus and professor of law at Golden Gate Law School, said the impact of the court ruling will "be a bad one" and have repercussions in about a dozen other states that have Good Samaritan laws.
Good Samaritans Will Now 'Hesitate'
He said the ruling will force ordinary people to be "reflective" before coming to the aid of a person in an emergency.
I'd have to say that I'll be more than "reflective" if I'm ever in this situation. I mean fuck, how ungrateful can one person be? This leaves the same rotten taste in my mouth as the woman that sued McDonald's for getting burned by hot coffee, or the burglar that breaks into a house & sues the owner (potential victim) for slipping on the floor. The linked story, and the other examples, leave me thinking WTF?
Here's another beauty:
Where'd the bailout money go? Shhhh, it's a secret
Bailout moneys go where?
So We the People have involuntarily donated what, $700 billion to banks & other financial institutions, but they either 1) have no idea where the money has gone or 2) just out & out refuse to disclose how they've spent the money.
I've heard through various sources that the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) does not require accounting from the recipients of my, er, "our" money, that it was not built-in by the authors of the legislation. I guess there's no sense of responsibility or accountability on the parts of the recipients to answer to those that lent the money, where it's being spent. If they weren't forced to account for the moneys, or disclose how/where the funds have been spent, they won't do it voluntarily.
Related to TARP, I heard over & over that the gov't feels that the taxpayers won't lose money on the TARP loans to the banks & financial institutions. So I guess then, that when the econonomy turns around, the banks & mortgage companies rid themselves of bad loans & start to make money again, that we'll all get a check for the profit or interest on the money lent, correct? Somehow I doubt it. But if the gov't says the taxpayers won't lose the money lent, how are we gonna get it back? I wish the "B" in my name stood for Bank instead of Brian.
It seems to me like accountability & responsibility are qualities that are in short supply today. I see it through events that touch me personally, and events that touch us all nationally (such as the TARP clusterfuck). I don't know when it became so easy to shirk responsibility for one's actions, but it's easier than getting a no-money-down loan four or five years ago.
I'm not sure where I stand spiritually, but I do know that eventually we all pay the piper. God, Karma, Fate & Destiny, The Powers That Be eventually send us all a bill for our actions marked "due upon receipt". No matter how much we seem to get away scott-free at the moment, eventually it will catch up, and come due, with interest. That's kinda the reason I wrote my last - albeit brief - blog entry.
Individually or as a collective, we all will eventually face the consequences of our actions. What goes around will surely come back around. As we do, so it will be done unto us. To come clean, I shirked a lot of responsibility for a number of years in different ways. But sure enough, it all caught up to me. No matter how far or how fast I ran, it all came back to me. I've taken care of business, and taken steps to atone for my misdeeds, and I feel so much better for it. I'm not perfect & will admit my shortcomings & my mistakes, just so I don't come off as high & mighty, or holier than thou. I firmly believe that it was the right thing for me to do, and I wish I saw more of that around me.
I see this lack of personal accountability everywhere around me. The US has exercised horrible energy policies for many years. We have gluttonized natural resources for decades, and turned a blind eye to pollution. And now we as a World are facing climate change at an alarming pace that threatens to drastically, irrevocably change the world we live in. There are a few voices in the US taking responsibility & trying to foster change. But so much I hear the blame shifted to emerging nations like China & India for the accelerating energy crises & pollution problems. When do we stop looking out, and start looking in, and make changes internally. Actions speak louder than words, but as a "world leader", I don't think the US has done much to lead by example in distancing ourselves from our addiction to or dependence on oil, or our habit of gross pollution & ruination of the environment.
I see similar patterns when it comes to politics & the US's global reputation, or attitudes of others towards the US. In so many cases we have made very shoddy, questionable decisions in the realm of foreign policy. Yet we wonder why so much of the world hates us, why they despise us, demonstrate against us, and attack us. Do We ever stop to think that maybe there's some cause related to the effect? I've seen so much "woe is me" in the US in response to how we as a country are treated by many other countries, regions, religious or ethnic sects, yet I don't see an equal amount of soul-searching for what we (our country or gov't) may have done to evoke such a response.
As I've grown older I've gotten better about taking responsibility for my actions. It should not have taken me 37 years to do this, but I've always been a late bloomer. But as I look inward more & more, examining the events & circumstances in my life, and being more nakedly, brutally honest about how I got where I did, I shift less (more like zero) blame to other people, places, or things, and look myself square in the eye. I wish there was a way to change the general dispostion & mindset of our country, I really do. As cliche as it is, each journey of a thousand miles start with a single step. The Butterfly Effect.
So, as much as I see wrong w/the country & world we all live in, I do what I can each day to make a difference. Regarding the environment, I drive as little as possible, and I recycle all that I can. I don't have much interaction w/foreigners & don't travel much outside the US, but I still try to conduct myself as I would want the rest of the world to view me as a person, and American, and a world citizen. Think Globally, Act Locally.
Alright, so to wrap up the heavy shit, I urge you to think before you act. Be sure that what you give is what you'll get. Paybacks are truly Hell, and as much as you think that you're getting away w/something at this or that moment, rest assured it'll come back around to you. Every action has an equal & opposite reaction. Be sure that as much as you think you may be getting away w/something grand at this moment, it'll come back to you threefold. I don't think we can totally escape the consequences of our actions. Maybe we slink out relatively free in the now, but it'll come back & catch up with interest in the future.
To try & end on a high note, I'm thankful for the three-day holiday weekend. I'm thankful that I live in FL, and am not suffering through sub-zero temperatures. I'm thankful that I have my family, my dogs, my health, and a good job. I'm thankful that I finished the ginormous ass-kicking project before Christmas. The project took over a year, but I learned a lot, and am very satisfied w/the end result. It was a ton of hours, a lot of headache, a lot of heartburn, but I know that my little role made a difference, and I know that the right people took notice of what I did, and appreciate my efforts. I'm also thankful that I have a bunch of Stella Artois in the fridge. Speaking of which...
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