>>Imagine if every single one of us embraced the concept that everything that happens to you in life is your responsibility, your fault, your credit, your decision. If every single one of us went through life believing that everything we have, everything we screwed up everything we lost everything we gained was a result solely of the decisions and actions we did. Imagine how difficult that would be for most people. Because that means that every time something goes wrong in your life, you have to then blame yourself and you have to look inside yourself, and you have to be introspective.
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>Am I the only one here willing to say what total BS this idea is? We all have responsibility for what we do and don't do, but we are not responsible for (most of) the actions of others that affect our lives. Marcia's example of the flowerpot falling on someone's head is perfect for that. Sure, you were there for whatever reasons, but you didn't put the flowerpot where it was nor fail to make it unable to fall off. The person who did those things shares responsibility for what happened to you (and I'd argue, in most cases, bears the bulk of the responsibility).
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>The father of one of my grade school classmates was killed when he was walking down the street in downtown Philadelphia with his wife, and a piece fell off the building. Was he responsible for that? Hell, no. In this case, I find it hard to ascribe even a tiny percent of the blame to the victim.
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>One of my college professors was later killed driving on the PA Turnpike when a tire flew off a truck in front of him and came through his windshield. To the best of my knowledge, he wasn't speeding or tailgating, just driving normally. Was he responsible? Again, hell, no.
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>>If you go through life constantly believing that everything that happens to you is a result of your decisions then you place that on other people as well and you always expect the best effort from your fellow citizens.
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>Believing that not everything is your fault is not the same as believing that nothing is your fault. Much of what happens to us is our responsibility, but plenty of it is not.

I don't agree with it either, but it's an amusing thought experiment. I view this discussion of absolute "personal responsibility" as a special case of a more general discussion of responsibility vs. authority.