Summary
Q. How do you win the Blame Game? A. Don’t play. In our personal lives, we should always accept 100% responsibility. Yes, I said 100%. No exceptions. When we listen to politicians, remember they rarely accept any responsibility for anything. They will take 100% of the credit, and place 100% of the blame.
Links and References
Passing Our Debts to Our Children
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Transcript
Q. How do you win the Blame Game? A. Don’t play. In our personal lives, we should always accept 100% responsibility. Yes, I said 100%. No exceptions. When we listen to politicians, remember they rarely accept any responsibility for anything. They will take 100% of the credit, and place 100% of the blame.
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” Harry S Truman, 33rd President of the United States. That way of thinking has to be the opposite of the blame game, right?
The politicians we vote for care about taking the credit for themselves and their party, and placing the blame on their opponents and the other party far more than they care about any accomplishments that would benefit their constituents or the country at large. Essentially the accomplishment they care about is taking credit and placing blame.
I can give you an easy example by way of proof: the growing national debt. Right now, both parties are blaming the other for the $21 trillion that we owe. That’s trillion by the way; a thousand billions. Can you even imagine that number? Republicans say that Democrats doubled the debt during Obama’s presidency. And they are right. Democrats say Obama inherited a huge annual deficit–the amount being added to the total deficit annually–when he took office, and when he left, the annual deficit had been dramatically reduced. And they are right. Trump came into office decrying the then $20T national debt, and he has added at least a trillion to the total. And the very people who were screaming bloody murder when our debt hit $20T in 2016, are strangely quiet even though it is now $21T–a trillion dollars higher.
Assume that we live long enough to see the worst, we’ll see the day where our economy–and our daily lives–are hugely and negatively impacted because 1. We cannot pay even the interest on the national debt and 2. No one will lend us any more money. Will the politicians and their parties fess up, apologize and at least try to fix something? Not a chance. They will all grab microphones and headlines in a headlong rush to fix the blame everywhere save at themselves, all while drawing their comfortable pensions. Both parties will do that. And they will both be right. Because they both did it.
This “I’m not accountable blame game” is being played over and over again in key areas like immigration, infrastructure additions and maintenance, healthcare and failing public schools. Notable areas of “success” include a growing government and lavish Congressional pensions and Congressional health insurance.
The Republicans and Democrats are spending far more time and energy hurling accusations at each other than they are trying to make things work for us and our country. It is completely impossible to accomplish anything without taking responsibility, and it is equally impossible to take any type of responsibility when you are busy blaming others. Given that the two parties are unlikely to change their methods anytime soon, is this an unfixable situation? Are we doomed? No and no.
We the people need to take responsibility. If we want a better government, we need better office holders. If we want better office holders, we need better candidates. And to get better candidates, we need to be better voters. And activists. “Activists” you might ask? “I can’t do that.” Is it that you don’t have the time? We always have time for the things we really want. We all have the same 24 hours in a day; it is all about priorities. Informed voting is necessary, but not nearly enough.
Together, we can change everything. Are you with me? “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead, Anthropologist. Will you be one of those thoughtful, committed citizens?
Let’s apply the two Results With Reason main tenets to today’s issues. The two main tenets that we believe in at Results With Reason are:
- Personal Responsibility; practice it, teach it and
- Be Your Brother’s Keeper.
Today’s application is straightforward:
- Personal Responsibility. Lead. Be accountable. Look for the common ground, and there will always be common ground, common goals, amongst people who actually want to solve a problem. Search for pertinent facts, and apply non agenda-based logic to the facts to reach the common goals. Try it; this process works.
- Be your Brother’s Keeper. Be patient with each other; some will want to join you, others will not. Teach and encourage; don’t criticize and reject. Love and lead. Remember, we are all in this together.
Now it is time for our usual parting thought. For us at Results With Reason, it is not only change your thinking, change your life. It is change your thinking, change your actions, change the world. And if you can do it in love and enjoy the people around you at the same time, all the better. And if we, you and I, don’t do something, then the others who are doing something, will continue to run the show.
Remember: Knowledge by itself is the booby prize.
Will Luden, writing to you from my home office at 7,200’ in Colorado Springs.
The core, driving principles at Revolution 2.0, are:
1. Personal Responsibility. Take it, teach it.
2. Be Your Brother’s Keeper. Taking care of our brothers and sisters.
If we apply those two core principles simultaneously, we will inevitably be on the right path.
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5 Responses
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