One of my issues with personal responsibility is that oftentimes you the individual are made to feel responsible for things that are actually out of your control. In reality, these things can be caused by nature or by other people who have power over you. For many people in the West, this is a difficult concept to grasp. We feel so personally liable for our failures that we’ll hesitate to make a change if it risks acknowledging we messed up.
We would rather feel shame for our failures than admit we’ve been powerless.
That’s why much of our time is spent acting on the premise that we are shameful instead of the premise that circumstances are (currently) not under our control. For me, this has resulted in much of my life being a state of addiction or isolation.
When it comes to a problem like the COVID pandemic, individualist thinking truly becomes a curse. I was walking into an elevator to go up to my apartment and two guys, chatting, came in nonchalantly as I turned around. I figured they were going down so I said truthfully that I was going up. They were like, “oh ok” and left. I came back to my place thinking I should have said, “What are you people, stupid?” I anticipate they may have responded with indignation. Would they have? I don’t know. I’m not confrontational with strangers. The point is, we seem to have disagreed as to whether you should get in an elevator with someone during the pandemic. My current thinking is, no. What reason would they have to share an elevator with me instead of waiting for an empty car? Aren’t they concerned I could have the virus? Couldn’t they have it? Maybe it’s too scary to think about, so they’re in denial. I know that when I go to see my mom, sometimes I’m reluctant to wash my hands BEFORE leaving. When I get to her place I wash before I do anything else. But to wash my hands before I leave my apartment is to suggest that I may have the virus. Guilt usually wins over, and I end up washing both times. I think sometimes, “I’m a careful person. I know I’M clean.” But the truth is, we slip up, and little exposures to people and surfaces accumulate over time. We just can’t KNOW every little thing that affects us. And why would we want to anyway? How exhausting. That’s why I just wash my hands. I don’t have the power to not get infected. I do have the power to help prevent infecting others. Besides, would I be suggesting that I only care about not getting my family sick? That’s not just selfish, it’s stupid. My immediate family doesn’t form the entirety of my support network. In times like this we are forced to realize we live in a much bigger world then we think. The actions of people on the other side of the planet have come to impact all of our lives.
We have been lied to about what has been under our control. As such, we have been made responsible for increasingly ridiculous things. To survive the pandemic, and to fight for true freedom in the future, we must respond to these forces that have held up late-20th century society in a matter-of-fact way. We were always this powerless. We just never knew how much.
Already Ridiculous 