I have been hearing a lot from the sheep lately that we have some sort of obligation to society as a whole.
Well do we really?
I am forced to pay taxes far over the actual value of government services I receive isn't that enough?
What else am I obligated to do for "society"?
Am I responsible for the safety of other peoples' children?
Am I responsible for the bills and livelihood of other people?
Just what does this obligation entail?
Shouldn't it be enough that I live my life without impeding anyone else from doing the same?
1. if you have certain political religious or social beliefs, your responsibility is to live by your own principles and fund them yourself and not impose on others to make others responsible if you believe differently. you are right, if we all did this we wouldn't have the problems we see now costing everyone out the kazoo!
2. if you don't like others imposing responsibility for their problems or beliefs on you or others who dissent or have a more effective solution, it is your equal responsibility to try to communicate and resolve such conflicts to the best of your ability to avoid imposition. the "golden rule of reciprocity" is a natural law that affects all people and all relations; it is found in every religion and also applies to enforcing civil laws where this is more effective when people agree to uphold them equally and not abuse laws or power to deprive others.
3. if you find your ways are imposing on others it is your responsibility to accept your share of the costs or efforts to resolve that problem. most conflicts are mutual, and require equal give and take on both sides to succeed in protecting individual interests equally for sake of justice and peace.
4. if all people did this more, then we would not have such conflicts with personal and public responsibility as we have now with people and institutions including church state business nonprofit etc. everyone should share equal responsibility for the part we can do something about and there would not be mass backlog imposing on people in conflict.
5. my suggestion is to promote training and assistance in conflict resolution, restorative justice and consensus building where taxpayers are rewarded for solving problems of government, not punished for crimes corruption or abuses of others. when people have equal access to education and mentorship we can become more self-governing and equal in rights and responsibility with more direct localized democracy for sustainable economic and community development. thanks!
ps as for govt costing taxpayers more than the services or programs should cost due to abuses or problems, where govt officials or agencies FAIL to fix the problems or conflicts causing waste, unfortunately the buck is passed to the people who can solve the problem. if our tax money or authority is abused we are partially responsible for granting that. it is not enough to say someone else did the abuse; if we pay for a car or give the keys to reckless drivers, the minute we become aware they are causing wrecks and costing damage, we share responsibility for providing the cars or the keys to that irresponsible or reckless driver. political parties formed around each case of reckless waste by the govt or corporate abuse would be the perfect structure to organize advocates and resources around reforms and solutions; we just need to delegate issues and authority by teams and work together instead of fighting to take over the wheel of the ship while it sinks deeper!
