Who's Responsible?

We have become a society of victims. Powerless, unknowing, forever vulnerable victims,  never responsible for the awful things which happen around us and to us. The world around us becomes too complex, too abstruse, too difficult. Yet we are told (sometimes even by ourselves) that everything is our fault. So we go through life with this conflicted combination of guilt and martyrdom, resentful even of those who would help, as though the wagon train were to open fire on the cavalry riding to its rescue.
There are groups in our political landscape who seek to reinforce their version of this issue of responsibility for their particular political agenda, not out of concern for the various groups in question. At one and the same time, we are told that we should solve all problems merely by a healthy tug on our bootstraps yet put down if we try to show any initiative in the face of social restrictions. A woman is expected to overcome gender limits, a person of color the pigment of the skin, a low-income person the financial hurdles, this or that ethnic person the problems of learning a different language, a different cultural mindset, different food and clothing.
But this does not mean we should not assume our own sense of responsibility. I can remember a sign in the office of one of the agencies I have been affiliated with: "You may not realize that a lack of preparation on your part should not constitute a crisis on my part." The point here is knowing what we can do- and do it!