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Whither Individual Responsibility?
By
Bob Orrick
What has happened in Canada? Has the country slipped so far that people are not held responsible for their own actions? Time after time, we learn that someone, somewhere has been excused for having committed undesirable behaviour when another person in authority deems the culprit was not the person himself but rather the 'system.'
Somewhere along the line, people have to learn that the 'system' does not cause them to become addicts, or thieves, or murderers, or criminals bent on destruction of personal property or swiping the odd dollar or two from the till at their place of employment. The system is not at fault; it is the individual who has fallen from honesty to dishonesty. Yet, there are some people in this country, at least one judge among them apparently, who feel that the system as legislated by governments is the real culprit.
According to a story that ran in the CanWest News Service a few days ago, "a man who had defrauded the Canadian Forces to support his gambling habit" was spared time in penitentiary for the simple reason that the presiding judge blamed the man's addiction on the government.
The amount was $91,300 and the judge did sentence the culprit to an 18-month conditional sentence, three years probation, 240 hours of community work, and to repay the money stolen; yet, no jail time.
"Ontario Court Justice Paul Belanger said governments that make money from gambling must accept some responsibility for the 'monsters' they've created."
The judge went on to explain that "one of the consequences of this is that there will be people who become hopelessly addicted to gambling." Belanger added, "It is a recognized disease."
I disagree with the learned judge. Gambling is not a disease as much as it is a weakness. The weakness is in the person and the person gives in to temptation. I recognise how easily a person can become weak and how easily gambling can seduce that person to commit a crime to feed that weakness.
Were we to accept the judge's view of disease, then we would have to accept that driving vehicles, something permitted by government, is a disease. If we take that view further, we can say without fear of contradiction that driving is an addiction that causes people who drive to become 'hopelessly addicted to driving." The result, according to the Ontario judge, would be to have a horde of drivers who feed their habit by criminal means, such as by adding a bit to a legitimate expense claim or by creating a bogus claim to 'glean' additional money to use for gasoline purchases. After all, permission to drive is licensed by government and according to the judge, "government that make money from gambling must accept some responsibility for the monsters they've created." Substitute 'driving' for gambling and the sentence reads equally correctly. Ergo, government through its legislation creates 'monsters.' Almost daily we see those monsters on the streets of our hamlets, villages, towns, and cities from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
The above substitution of driving for gambling is recognised as a bit of a stretch but the idea that government must accept responsibility for the monsters it creates by legislation, such as the gambling that the Ontario judge decries, is more to the point when put in the context of what many Canadians - and others from countries where governments do the same as here - do daily. They drive vehicles. As drivers, they accept personal responsibility for the manner in which they drive; they drive within their financial means. I have not heard or read of a driver who has committed an offence against society for the simple excuse that driving is a disease. Perhaps they are out there and so far have escaped the evil eye of government and judges.
I do not know what has happened to this land that we Canadians call home but I do know that individual responsibility and acceptance for one's actions seems to be frowned upon. Today, it seems, each of us 'does his own thing' without fear or concern for the consequences.
"Hey, don't blame me. The government made me do it!"
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From time to time, comments about this site are received. Some readers agree while others do not. All comments are welcome. Thanks to Bob in South Surrey, British Columbia; Penny in Bainbridge Island, Washington state, USA; Margaret in New Zealand and several others in Ontario and British Columbia as well as others in the United States. Unfortunately, I have misplaced their names so I am unable to thank them publicly for their interest in this definitely opinionated writer's views on myriad things. To all, enjoy the summer [Northern Hemisphere] and winter [Southern Hemisphere.]
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Bob Orrick is a private tutor of English grammar, literature, poetry and Canadian history to off-shore youngsters. His pupils hail from such places as Taiwan, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Korea and Venezuela. He was previously in international marketing, was a ministerial assistant to a provincial cabinet minister, spent a few years as a reporter then editor of a community newspaper and enjoyed a career in the Royal Canadian Navy.
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