Good
morning!
Personal responsibility vs the "blame game". All too often
Americans (and I suspect others) try to externalize the cause of
their troubles. This new law attempts to shield restaurants from
people claiming that restaurant food made them fat. Complete
denial of personal responsibility for their condition.
I
had a chance to attend a clinical pharmacology conference in
Paris this April. I chose not to go in response to events in
Europe over the last year. When my son was traveling on a side
trip during his semester on the Rome campus of the University of
Dallas he encountered French people at the train station with
signs that said "Americans: You are not safe here" so he keep
going. The French were not supportive of American efforts to rid
the world of a man who has killed from 200,000 to as many as
500,000 of his own people. Now the French tourist industry is in
a down turn…. and whose fault is it? ….. (certainly not the
French!)_ They blame Americans for taking their earlier advice.
Volkswagen announced poor earnings and will be downsizing. I'm
sure that it will be considered the fault of Americans for not
buying German. I did not buy a German car when recently in the
market, having similar reservations about a country that made a
big show out of opposing US efforts in Iraq but demanding a
share in the reconstruction contracts.
These are but a few examples on a macro level. On a micro level:
how do you respond to mistakes or trouble? Is your first
reaction to "fix the blame" or to "fix the problem"? When you
make a mistake, admit it, and go on trying to make the world a
better place. Great countries are made up of great citizens. If
we all "do the right thing" in our personal relationships and at
work then the whole country will move forward… if not we could
develop a taste for snails. ( well at least snails can't be too
fattening).
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