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Opinion: Individuals, not government, responsible for social problems


We demand too much of the government. We want the government to take care of us, to watch over us and to set things right when we eventually make a mistake. We whine for new laws to add to old ones that do not work in the first place. We assume the government can fix any problem, even those that we bring upon ourselves.

Instead of looking to the government to mend our woes, we should first ask ourselves if we are doing all that we can to make the situation right. We do not need new legislation, we need renewed common sense and a renewed acceptance of personal responsibility.

Recall the case on this campus, not four months ago, when a freshman was killed crossing Apache Boulevard in the middle of the night. The first reaction of many students was that the University and Tempe had not done enough to prevent the accident.

Students demanded a footbridge over Apache similar to the one that carries students over University Drive They argued that the speeding, drunken driver would have slowed down had another speed limit sign been posted near McAllister Avenue. Some of those demands were met recently. New signs have gone up, admonishing drivers to slow down, but the root of the problem remains ignored.

We throw money at problems that could be prevented if students took responsibility for their actions. The fact that a student chose to cross against a red signal in the middle of the night had more to do with her death than a lack of road signs.

Our first instinct following a tragedy should not be to ask the government for help. We should first ask ourselves what we can do to prevent the problem.

Students are not the only people dodging responsibility. Following September 11, the news media has repeatedly been guilty of capitalizing on the fears of Americans. Yet they have seen little retribution for their exaggeration tactics.

The news media caused an unnecessary stir over an anthrax epidemic that they knew was preposterous. Clearly, there was a lack of personal and corporate responsibility in deciding how to present the news. But again, the final responsibility falls not on a government regulator, but on the shoulders of those of us who watch the news shows.

If we do not walk in front of the speeding car, there will not be a victim. If we do not watch sensational news shows, there will be no advertisers to pay for them.

Of course, we could have the government censor outrageous stories that cause undue concern in the public. I have heard this theory of government censorship proposed and seconded in a journalism class at this University. Aside from acting as a sort of democratic cancer, censorship provides a limited solution.

The only way to permanently affirm a solution is to punish the networks by tuning them out and squelching their ratings. Executives at Fox News and MSNBC will respond to lower ratings faster than they will to any sort of government regulation.

We need the government. But we do not need it as much as we think we might.

Even today, as the economy continues to slide deeper into the toilet, we look to the government to bail us out. But there is little the government can do if we as consumers are not willing to start spending again.

Do not pass the blame. Do not assume the solution is beyond your grasp. The answer to many of the problems we face is a little personal responsibility; one thing that is in terribly short supply these days.

There is no way to legislate a sense of responsibility. But there would never be a need to do so if we stopped looking to the government to solve our problems.

Put your trust in the unrestricted freedom to choose, not in a burgeoning government too big and too inept to run even itself.

James Manley is a journalism sophomore.

Reach him at james.manley@asu.edu.


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