***********************
“The price of greatness is responsibility.”
― Winston Churchill
***********************
I saw an idiot* on television yesterday say, “The buck stops with everybody.”
Inspiring stuff. A new chapter in Profiles in Courage.
But, even though this pains me to say, the moron* was right.
Well, right in a way, not in the instance of which he was speaking, where he was trying to relieve himself of all Responsibility for the particular situation in which he finds himself. No, the fool* is the primary bearer of the responsibility for that.
I am saying the Buck Stops with us all right now. We have allowed and enabled this whole ugly situation to take place. We have willingly given a looter a flamethrower and we are now witnessing how much damage can be done as he flees the scene.
And he* is very much a looter. Think about it.
A looter comes riding in on a wave of chaos and confusion, grabbing whatever he can as he runs through the mayhem. He thrives on the bedlam taking place around him because his only concern, his only focus, is on himself alone. He carelessly pushes people aside to get where and what he wants. Not a bit of care for the damage being done or the losses suffered from his actions. Not a single thought for those hurt as he tramples through.
And when it looks like the authorities are closing in, the looter* uses his flamethrower and sows even more confusion. When the whole city is ablaze, you focus on putting out the fire. The looter* focuses only on moving himself to safety.
It is now time for us all to understand that this is our responsibility to end this chaos, to extinguish the fires and take the flamethrower out of the tiny hands of the looter*. We must make our presence felt and our voices heard. Hit the phones and keyboards. Take to the streets and do it now. We can’t depend on anyone else doing it for us.
It is our responsibility.
If we want to continue to be considered a great nation, this is the price we must now pay. Because as Winston Churchill states above, responsibility is the price for greatness.
Or as a reality TV show nitwit* once said, “The buck stops with everybody.”
