The Twinkie Defense (Dan White), The Abuse Excuse (Menendez brothers), and it only gets worse- younger generations getting the wrong kinds of values or none at all, and everyday life becoming more dangerous by the day. Reason: once a place where personal responsibility was among the values taught and learned early in life, the United States has fast become a nation of excuse-makers- nobody is ever 'responsible' for what they do.
My first sight of this change came from newspaper accounts of a crime nearly 25 years ago. The crime itself was bad enough; the aftermath was worse. A teenage girl committed a brutal, premeditated murder. The only consequence she received: five years of weekly, outpatient therapy.
Awhile back, I happened to read an old book written by Dr. Laura. She remarked that people these days rarely own up by saying they 'did wrong;' instead, they'd state they 'made a mistake.' Years later, it has moved even further in the wrong direction- all sorts of crimes are chalked up as 'poor choices' or 'bad decisions.' One example from not long ago: a middle-school student stole prescription medication and distributed it among her friends; some of the kids ended up in the hospital. A bystander, interviewed on tv, said the student just 'made a bad decision.'
Amazing, isn't it, hardly anyone does anything wrong- well, they do, but they call it something else. And similar to Dan White and the Menendez brothers, they're handed convenient excuses for their actions.
On a less-serious scale, a couple of incidents involving a middle-aged person: I don't recall whether it was the police department or the sheriff's department, but the guy was strolling on past, nonchalantly, when he was approached by an officer who had been outside the building. The officer pointed at what the guy was carrying, and the guy replied This is my marijuana! I grow it down by the river!
In another instance, the same middle-aged guy was at a bus stop with other people waiting for buses; when he started making unpleasant facial expressions to a small child, the child's mother asked him to stop, saying he was scaring the child. His reply was a shrug, and It's not my fault- I have a mental illness.
Point: From minor disruptions to literally getting away with murder, too many today have pat excuses for why they are not responsible for their actions. And while human beings can make mistakes, even serious mistakes, it is the approach taken afterward that matters. Instead of saying 'I made a mistake' or 'I did something wrong,' we've moved too far in the wrong direction to where nobody is responsible for what they do.
On one side of this issue, convenient excuses are applied too freely. From what I've seen in recent years, individuals get away with all kinds of crimes and other inexcusable behaviors simply because they are 'drug addicts,' 'alcoholics,' or have 'mental health conditions.' All around this country, individuals are sent to 12-Step programs or therapy instead of incarceration after all kinds of violent crimes.
On the other side of the issue, the 'pop' approach that no matter what anyone has done, no one can 'judge' him. We hear manipulative vocabulary such as 'Oh, are you perfect?' or 'Didn't you ever make any mistakes?' Two news stories from not long ago show how extreme this approach can be. One example: an 18-year-old killed his young child; when people expressed outrage, comments included 'Didn't you ever do anything foolish when you were young?'
A second example was a trial for a woman who had, through extreme child abuse, caused the death of her young grandchild. As the evidence was clear she had committed the act, her defense attorney's closing arguments instructed the jury as to why they should not convict her: 'Only you who is without sin may cast the first stone.'
The criminal justice system and segments of society have come a long way since Dan White's attorney attempted to free White of responsibility for two murders by claiming he was addicted to junk food and under the influence of sugar. Unfortunately, it's clearly come a long way in the wrong direction.
If younger generations are to have values, they need to stop hearing that no one is responsible for their actions. If younger generations are to have a nation or communities fit to live in, they need safe environments. And if they are to have the self-assurance the majority in our generation grew up with, they need to know they are well within their rights to have and express their viewpoints.
It is yet another example of how 'old-fashioned' approaches were not necessarily a bad idea. Under the original M'Naghten rule, a person either was fully responsible for his actions, or he was not. And individuals were dealt with according to whether they were aware of their actions and the wrongness of their actions, or whether they lacked this capacity. And it made much more sense than the way the CJ system and segments of society are today.
My first sight of this change came from newspaper accounts of a crime nearly 25 years ago. The crime itself was bad enough; the aftermath was worse. A teenage girl committed a brutal, premeditated murder. The only consequence she received: five years of weekly, outpatient therapy.
Awhile back, I happened to read an old book written by Dr. Laura. She remarked that people these days rarely own up by saying they 'did wrong;' instead, they'd state they 'made a mistake.' Years later, it has moved even further in the wrong direction- all sorts of crimes are chalked up as 'poor choices' or 'bad decisions.' One example from not long ago: a middle-school student stole prescription medication and distributed it among her friends; some of the kids ended up in the hospital. A bystander, interviewed on tv, said the student just 'made a bad decision.'
Amazing, isn't it, hardly anyone does anything wrong- well, they do, but they call it something else. And similar to Dan White and the Menendez brothers, they're handed convenient excuses for their actions.
On a less-serious scale, a couple of incidents involving a middle-aged person: I don't recall whether it was the police department or the sheriff's department, but the guy was strolling on past, nonchalantly, when he was approached by an officer who had been outside the building. The officer pointed at what the guy was carrying, and the guy replied This is my marijuana! I grow it down by the river!
In another instance, the same middle-aged guy was at a bus stop with other people waiting for buses; when he started making unpleasant facial expressions to a small child, the child's mother asked him to stop, saying he was scaring the child. His reply was a shrug, and It's not my fault- I have a mental illness.
Point: From minor disruptions to literally getting away with murder, too many today have pat excuses for why they are not responsible for their actions. And while human beings can make mistakes, even serious mistakes, it is the approach taken afterward that matters. Instead of saying 'I made a mistake' or 'I did something wrong,' we've moved too far in the wrong direction to where nobody is responsible for what they do.
On one side of this issue, convenient excuses are applied too freely. From what I've seen in recent years, individuals get away with all kinds of crimes and other inexcusable behaviors simply because they are 'drug addicts,' 'alcoholics,' or have 'mental health conditions.' All around this country, individuals are sent to 12-Step programs or therapy instead of incarceration after all kinds of violent crimes.
On the other side of the issue, the 'pop' approach that no matter what anyone has done, no one can 'judge' him. We hear manipulative vocabulary such as 'Oh, are you perfect?' or 'Didn't you ever make any mistakes?' Two news stories from not long ago show how extreme this approach can be. One example: an 18-year-old killed his young child; when people expressed outrage, comments included 'Didn't you ever do anything foolish when you were young?'
A second example was a trial for a woman who had, through extreme child abuse, caused the death of her young grandchild. As the evidence was clear she had committed the act, her defense attorney's closing arguments instructed the jury as to why they should not convict her: 'Only you who is without sin may cast the first stone.'
The criminal justice system and segments of society have come a long way since Dan White's attorney attempted to free White of responsibility for two murders by claiming he was addicted to junk food and under the influence of sugar. Unfortunately, it's clearly come a long way in the wrong direction.
If younger generations are to have values, they need to stop hearing that no one is responsible for their actions. If younger generations are to have a nation or communities fit to live in, they need safe environments. And if they are to have the self-assurance the majority in our generation grew up with, they need to know they are well within their rights to have and express their viewpoints.
It is yet another example of how 'old-fashioned' approaches were not necessarily a bad idea. Under the original M'Naghten rule, a person either was fully responsible for his actions, or he was not. And individuals were dealt with according to whether they were aware of their actions and the wrongness of their actions, or whether they lacked this capacity. And it made much more sense than the way the CJ system and segments of society are today.