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There's something that always tugs at the back of my mind about these arguments, and I think I've worked it out. It's the difference between responsibility and
by strken 7y ago
There's something that always tugs at the back of my mind about these arguments, and I think I've worked it out. It's the difference between responsibility and blame.
Say your parents went deeply into debt in an excessive and unnecessary way to raise you, but they genuinely thought they were doing the right thing, and you've found yourself needing to pay their debt off. You may or may not be responsible for the debt, but you're definitely not to blame for it. It's an imposed and somewhat unfair duty rather than the consequence of your own actions.
To me it intuitively feels like some responsibility is demanded by profiting from an outcome, while blame is only transferred by intent. A lot of arguments don't make it clear that there's a difference between the two. Your friend might be responsible for making US foreign policy less belligerent, but he's not to blame for it: his responsibility is a moral weight that's been unfairly foist upon him by other people, and it doesn't mean that he, personally, caused every death in the middle east since he was born.
- chillfox 7y agoI have always believed that in a democracy every citizen bears some responsibility for what the state does. If you didn't vote then you basically supported the winner. Inaction is a kind of action when someone must win and a decision must be made. And if you did vote and your "side" didn't win, then did you try to convince anyone? Not getting involved is a decision of some kind. The way I see it, if you fail in that basic of responsibility (voting and trying to convince people to support your view) then you share some blame for whatever the state does. If you support what the state does or the outcome then you definitely own a share in the blame.
- mycall 7y agoPercentage of blame. When young, you should be blamed less than when old, assuming you don't help fix the system you are part of (eg. feed the needy, give home to the homeless, plant trees, etc.. fix)
- ZeroFries 7y agoI find the concepts of responsibility and blame to be leaky beyond use in a lot of situations. Can you help the situation? Great, it would be wise to do so. If not, try and get yourself into a position where you can, if possible, otherwise don't worry about it. I often bring this up in the context of climate change. Are humans to blame/are they responsible? Maybe, maybe not, but if it's happening, and we can fix it, we should do the cost-benefit analysis anyways and take action if it's worth it.