Responsibilitarianism – A Way Of Life

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  • Responsibility and Growth

    Responsibility and Growth

    When my daughter was only a couple months old, I was changing her diaper using a picnic table. At one point, I turned around for a quick moment (probably swapping the diapers). When I turned back, she was halfway off the table with her legs kicking madly in the air. As I was about to yell at her, I realized that she had no idea what was happening , let alone what was about to.

    Parenting is a wonderful way to study about growth. It is also a wonderful time to learn how to teach responsibility.

    The first trick for parenting is how to respond to the first few stages of that child’s life. As soon as that baby learns how to grab, into the mouth it goes! A good response is to provide only safe things in the immediate environment.

    When a toddler starts to crawl and walk, it is so essential to limit where that kid can go.

    In time, the child learns how to share and hold hands.

    But even then, one day on 34th street in New York my daughter would walk quickly ahead. People would watch at this little girl seemingly walking all alone. Their concerns became relieved as they saw me almost running after her. One person even asked me if I was her father. How gratifying to me that I was not the only one concerned with her wellbeing.

    In time, and the hope was, she, and later her younger brother, would learn how self-limit where to walk. Think: dark alleys, abandoned buildings, who to hang out with.

  • Prayer as a Form of Action

    Prayer as a Form of Action

    As a preteen, when playing outdoors alone, I would hear sirens. I would stop and bow my head. My prayer was always simple. I would not know whether it was police, fire or medical. But that was not my concern. Rather, it for the safety and wellbeing of all those involved with the emergency.

  • Discovering the Ability to Respond

    Discovering the Ability to Respond

    In my mid-twenties, I was walking in New York near the intersection of 34th Street and 7th Avenue. Once more I was witnessing an ambulance on 7th, with lights flashing and siren blasting, struggling with not only the traffic in front but also cars crisscrossing in front of it. Anger boiled up in me.

    A very well-dressed man, possibly a lawyer, put down his briefcase on the edge of the intersection. Another set of emotions, this one of concern, came to me. All it would take is 5 seconds if not faster for a thief to snatch anything that is left free on the ground. So, I decided to stop walking and keep watch on that briefcase.

    The man proceeded to go into the middle of the intersection. Stopping the traffic, he waved the ambulance to go through the intersection. The ambulance driver waved back in appreciation.

    That was my “Of course!” moment as I watched him come back for his briefcase.

    He may have considered the ambulance more important than his briefcase but might not have realized the impression made upon a young person like me. From that day, I started to ask, “What can I do?”

    Over the years and decades of my life, that question changed more into a motto, “If I can, I will.”

  • Independence Day

    Independence Day

    The founders of the United States found themselves to be lesser than British citizens and sought to appeal to the British Crown. When the appeals failed and retributions began, the founders chose to use their resources to communicate among themselves secretly. Ultimately, using their educated understanding of past civilizations, they chose to believe in another form of government. But to do so, they proceeded to prepare a Declaration of Independence, listing their grievances and their desire for self-governance. 249 years ago on this day, they signed it with their names, coming out secrecy. Doing so, they recognized that they are pledging “to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”.

    Implicit in all this, and often mistakenly missing, is their sense of responsibility in seeking this freedom. It is sad that they recognized that they may lose their lives and their fortune. Most did.

    It took our founders more than a decade to come up with the Constitution that we have today. Even then, responsibility was implicit and fundamental in all they did.

    Today, I wish to honor them for that sense of responsibility.

  • Welcome to Responsibilitarianism

    This blog starts with my own reflections on Responsibility, a core to my own philosophy. Recently, I have come to call myself a Responsibilitarian. A Responsibilitarian is in essence a responder. Responsibilitarianism is the thought for being an able person to respond to a situation or incident. It is not limited to just my person but also can apply to my family, my community, my city, my state, my country, and my world.

    Responsibility should not be confused with Accountability, its flip side. Accountability comes upon the actions of responsibility. It is important to know to whom the responder should report. That party could be a higher-level responder, the family, the community, the city, the state, the country, the world, and even God. So, when taking actions of responsibility, there is a need to be ready to account for them.