Whose responsibility?

I was talking to a group of people - tertiary educated, professional people earning a good income and enjoying a good life here. The topics were common - eg. the pressurising school system, children who run amok in public places, people who are struggling on a low income etc.

Unlike many similar conversations I have had, these people thought that the responsibility lay on the shoulders of the individuals and families. Parents should put less stress on their children, and teach them more moral values and lead by example. People should be less choosy about their jobs, if they are out of work, they should take any work which enables them to earn an honest living.

Most of the other conversations I have had (with people from not too dissimilar a background), the emphasis tended to be on what the government could do. MOE should revise their syllabus so that kids have more free time, the government should provide skill training and assistance to those who have been retrenched.

I was quiet during most of the recent conversation, wondering which view was more "correct". The recent WSM and DW blogs highlighted the difference between these two views. It would be a truism to say that everybody bears some responsibility. Just that most people forget this when stating and defending their own views. The question is where to draw the line.

Over the last few years, I have realised that there is no clear-cut easy solution to most issues. All there are are shades of grey. The problem is that most of us seem to want black and white, and are bent on defending our own turf. Again, it is another truism, often forgotten, that when we are too busy defending, we often fail to recognise solutions that present themselves, which look different from our "ideal" solution.

Whose responsibility?! Arguable. But if we want to be part of the solution, the most important thing to ask ourselves is, What can I do tomorrow to solve the problem, and then go ahead and do it. If it sounds like a lot of work, the next question is, do I control my destiny, or do I abdicate from my power and responsibility and blame someone else for doing a bad job?!

PS. A side-thought would be whether the more well-resourced and well-educated members of society have a moral duty - as a fellow human being - to help the less fortunate? Is it a natural human trait to want to help another, unless some intellectual reasoning short-circuits this process?