Why do liberals hate the word 'personal responsibility'?

Question

They treat it like a dirty word.

I love how everyone assumes I'm a republican. I am not. I've never voted for a republican in my life.

I see most liberals on here were pretty typical - dodge the question. LOL

Answer 1

they don't know what it means.

Answer 2

I believe that most liberals take personal responsibility for their lives. I believe that the problem comes when they look around themselves and notice that there are those among us who cannot or won't.
What to do about them? I think that liberals believe that we have to take care of those less fortionate. They believe that big government is the way to do that.

I believe that most Conservatives also believe in taking personal responsibility for their lives. They also believe that if we don't give these unwilling or unable in our communities what they need, they will eventually get up and do for themselves. Those who cannot take care of themselves, will become evident to the community, and then the community should take action, but not until they have been given the chance. They also believe that this caretaking ought to reside in the community, not in a big national government.

There is nothing wrong with either of these philosophies.
Both believe in a safety net for the truly unable.
Both are compassionate.
Both believe that life should be better for all.
Both are made up of honest, good people.
Both believe in what they think of as personal responsibility.

It really isn't going to establish understanding or co-operation between us if we spend a lot of time making each other wrong. It defeats the process of communication before it ever begins.

Answer 3

Excuse me? How dare you generalize, and say ALL liberals hate the words personal responsibility. I am a liberal, and proud of it, and I take personal responsibility very seriously. I can not even come close to saying that about Bush, he doesn't even know what it means, as far as I'm concerned. His personal responsibility was to get us involved in an unnecessary war with Iraq, when we should have been focused on Afghanistan and Bin Laden. But no, he just had to invade Iraq without the approval of the UN, or the American public, totally unprepared for what he was going to face. Cheney himself in 1994 said invading Iraq would be a quagmire, and gee, look where we are now. And now Bush wants to invade Iran. What kind of personal responsibility is that?

You my friend, need to wake up and pay attention to something other than Fox News, because it has obviously got you brainwashed beyond belief. Fox news should be taken off the air because of their extreme bias against the "liberals". And they call themselves Fair and Balanced. Ha! If you are a Conservative, maybe, but certainly not if you have any other political choices. I thought news was supposed to be unbiased. What ever happened to that?

EDIT: To Other Guy: Did you know those of us who have worked our butts off in the working class pay 34% of our income in taxes, yet the very rich only pay 25%. How in heck is that fair? Why should the middle class carry the heaviest tax burden? The rich can afford it. The middle class is barely scraping by. Where is the justification for this? Since Bush stole the election, the gap between the working class, and the rich has widened tremendously. And you say the liberals are greedy. Ha!!

Answer 4

No rational adult hates the phrase personal responsibility. Sweeping generalizations such as this are, however, what keeps talk radio in business.

I consider myself a liberal and I have preached personal responsibility to anyone who will listen for a long time.

Maybe if liberals and conservatives would take the time to listen to each other on occasion, they would discover that there is some common ground.

Liberals don't eat their young and conservatives don't arm their children before sending them to school in the morning. Both sides want what they deem best for society, they just go about it in a different manner.

Answer 5

This is because of ideology. In general liberals believe that some people cannot help themselves. They do not except the idea that all people are created equal and as such are responsible for creating their own destinies. They hold to the purely emotional idea that the deck is stacked and that without intervention people cannot excel and achieve in life. It is funny to me because I know many liberals who are extremely successful from a financial standpoint and arrived at that station through hard work and self determination, but somehow still believe that others cannot accomplish the same. At its core liberalism is rooted in guilt. Many liberals I have known feel like they do not deserve what they have and that they were just somehow more fortunate than the down trodden masses. The reality is that the only path to true success in life begins with taking personal responsibility for your situation and actions. Anything less just breeds a dependency and repeating cycle which infects entire generations of people in our society. This describes the main set, but there is also a subset which is much more cunning. These are the extreme leftists who know that liberalism will never be excepted anywhere without there first being a dependent class of people. Armed with this knowledge they set about trying to create all the victims they possibly can and then seek to display themselves as the shining saviors. In this way they attempt to increase their power and prestige.

Answer 6

For all you Bush Bashers out there...You do realize the Senate approved...Its not like he can invade with just saying he's going to do it.

Second, I am a conservative and I agree that you cannot generalize. However, I also have a certain amount of knowledge regarding social services. I'm all for a "hand up" not a "hand out". We are not socialists. We are not communists. How did we end up in a society where we take from those who have worked hard for what they have and put that money into a self perpetuating system of socialism? How much as a percent of their income do you think wealthy people pay? How much do you think Bill Gates and Warren Buffet pay as a percent of their income? More than most people. Lets penalize them for being successful...

Answer 7

There is no individualism of thinking. It must be a group endeavor. Nothing according to them should be a personal responsibility. In this great nation with all the opportunities available to us. They feel a hand out is better than a hand up.

Achievement, hard work and success are also dirty words, because they go along with "personal responsibility!"

It is the truth, otherwise, why do they need universal health care? Why do they need SCHIP for families making $83,000 a year. Why do they need unions? These are but a few examples.

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Edit: As a conservative, and a woman, I do take personal responsibility for my own body. I never had an abortion, and I never would. If I didn't want to have a child I was smart enough to take "Personal Responsibility" BEFORE I became pregnant!


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Answer 8

That is two words

I'm often described as a liberal

I don't hate the words personal responsibility

I think more people should take part in personal responsibility.

Answer 9

It's not the responsible they hate. It's the personal part. They don't want to have any part of personal responsibility. They campaigned on getting the troops out NOW. They got control but because they can't overwhelm the Republicans you can count on their blameing Republicans. They will blame Republicans for EVERYTHING. Oil prices are high, blame Republicans. Jobs are going overseas, blame Republicans. The housing market is soft, blame Republicans. Health care sucks, blame Republicans. The economy tanks, blame Republicans.

They have no plan to change any of those situations. And you know why? There's nothing they can do about any of those things. You know why? Because they are all business related. They can't regulate what business does or they kill everything. Business isn't Republican or Democrat. Business is just business.

Answer 10

Personal Responsibility is two words and I don't believe I have ever treated them as if they were "dirty". This is a pretty vague question, hence the pretty vague answer.

Answer 11

You cons are so obnoxious.. Why not win an election on merits and NOT bashing people who don't believe in your crap politics. You people are so sick and just don't understand how stupid you are making yourselves sound by always bashing.. Con's = CULT and thats about it. Do you all have a secret handshake too? Go watch Rush hahahah he's quite a role model.. hahaha

You cons need your own site where all 20 of you can stand around and bash the everyone and destroy the world.