A recent development in society brings to mind a popular nursery rhyme about a funny little man called Mr Nobody who gets blamed for everything that happens. There seems to be a recent trend to blame not Mr Nobody but Mr Somebody. It seems to me no one wants to take responsibility for their actions anymore. They would rather blame someone else for their own failures or inabilities.
We are all quick to blame other people for our shortcomings and inactions. The overweight person would rather blame the Fast food companies rather than their own inability to exercise self-control as being responsible for their weight problems.
Teenagers and young people would rather blame the school system, their teachers, parents; everybody but themselves for their poor academic performance rather than their own inability to apply themselves diligently to their studies.
The upsurge in murders and violent crimes in recent times has been blamed on everything from childhood abuse, parental neglect to anger at the government and the society as a whole. Nobody seems to think it as a result of people making conscious choices to deliberately instill fear in their fellow men in order to assuage their own self- esteem problems.
There is an increase in alcohol and tobacco addiction, blame the companies, ban advertising, include warning signs on packaging; yet with all these seemingly drastic measures, the number of addicts keeps rising daily.
Political leaders in developing countries are quick to point accusing fingers at developed countries for their lack of economic growth rather than admit that corrupt practices and their own ineptitude is responsible for their failure.
I could go on and on with various illustrations of this “blame game”. I know I stand the risk of being misunderstood about what I am trying to say. Although, I acknowledge that there are many people with genuine problems battling addictions and other psychological problems which are plaguing them through no fault of their own, there are also many people who find themselves in this position as a result of deliberate decisions they have made.
As long as we all continue to blame others rather than take responsibilities for our actions, many societal ills will continue abated
and measures taken to tackle them will be akin to treating the symptoms of a disease while neglecting its root cause.
