Common Decency and Respect
Common decency and respect for others is becoming scarce in our society. One simple example is garbage thrown on the ground. Personal responsibility and common decency would dictate that every individual dispose of their own trash in the proper place.
We can lead in the efforts to restore our communities by considering the needs in our communities. Public spaces are often in a state of neglect because individuals make the assumption that it is someone else’s responsibility to take care of it. Government is an insatiable monster that will assume any role it can while consuming all the rights associated with that duty. The more government controls, the less individuals feel any sense of responsibility for those areas. The less individuals feel a sense of responsibility, the esteem they have for property, individuals, and the rights of others.
By considering those in our communities, and the rights and needs of those individuals, we can find many ways that we can take responsibility for our communities. We can clean garbage up from our public spaces and along our roads. We can get to know our neighbors and their specific needs. We can help our neighbors with yard work and home maintenance. We can run errands for those who can’t get around well. We can join local volunteer groups in their efforts to provide for and protect our communities.
The fix begins with individuals standing up and taking personal responsibility for their communities and showing others how it is done. It only takes one individual, doing very simple acts of personal responsibility for the community they live in, to start a movement back to a respectful society.
“It does not take a majority to prevail… but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”
Samuel Adams
Take back your rights by taking back responsibility.
“But if your spirit should revolt at this; if you have sense enough to discover, and spirit enough to oppose tyranny, under whatever garb it may assume; whether it be the plain coat of republicanism, or the splendid robe of royalty; if you have yet learned to discriminate between a people and a cause, between men and principles — awake! — attend to your situation, and redress yourselves. If the present moment be lost, every future effort is in vain; and your threats then will be as empty as your entreaties now.”
George Washington ~ 1783
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