Today we gather to remember a great institution and honor its passing.
Personal Responsibility lived a very long and, until the end, very productive life. People used Personal Responsibility everyday of their lives for generations.
Personal Responsibility was a great teacher. It guided people to make thoughtful decisions and learn hard lessons from their own mistakes.
Personal Responsibility was also an inspiration to millions when it made them think of the consequences of their actions. Or for the consequences of their lack of actions, such as not having planned for certain inventible (or just possible) events in life.
Some people tried to ignore Personal Responsibility but eventually they recognized it and embraced it at some point in their lives. Universally they felt better about themselves and their lives for having accepted Personal Responsibility.
But, alas, as with many great traditions of human history, in the latter half of the 20th century into the 21st century people began to feel it was too difficult to come to know Personal Responsibility. When they failed to befriend Personal Responsibility and bad things happened to them they simply cried "It's not fair!". Personal Responsibility wanted to help but instead others pressured government to step in instead.
Personal Responsibility was shoved aside more and more in place of government clean up after the fact. As this happened, the fall of Personal Responsibility snowballed. More and more people found being the friend of Personal Responsibility too much a burden when government would just step in and clean up the mess.
The final gasp to this great institution came when government turned to those people who had embraced Personal Responsibility and followed what it taught as being the ones accountable for fixing he problems of those who had not participated in Personal Responsibility. Suddenly, those who had worked hard, thought and planned carefully, were made to bear the cost and effort to clean up the mess from those who hadn't.
Thus, there was no more to be said. Personal Responsibility was not only gone but now a liability for those who still believed in it. "Why bother being Personally Responsible if I have to pay for your irresponsibility?" and comments like that became common place. People just stopped trying to find and befriend Personal Responsibility.
No one is absolutely sure the exact time of death for Personal Responsibility but it's generally believed it went into a coma one July 30, 2008 when the mortgage relief bill (HR 3221) was signed into law by President Bush. Many hoped for a miracle resurrection but the plug was finally pulled sometime on September 8, 2008 when the government took over the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage corporations essentially ending foreclosure on federally issued mortgages to people who had no prayer of being able to pay them back.
My friends and fellow mourners, those of us who remember Personal Responsibility feel we are indeed better off for having it in our lives. It is greatly unfortunate many others today and in future generations will not have the maturity to have known it as well.
May Personal Responsibility rest in peace and forgive us for having ignored it.
Amen.
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