The Responsibility Project

1. Fault and responsibility

   Most folks, as they get older, refuse to believe that they are growing incompetent. They believe that they are still 'sharp as a tack' when in fact, they may have been sharp about some things, but have not kept up with the times nor the different breeds of con artists who can take them for everything. Is it their fault? Sadly, yes, it is. It is their responsibility whether they have $10 or $150,000 - to ensure that their investments are safe, that their eyesight is still good enough to drive, that their reaction time in traffic is still good enough to be aware of sudden dangers and to avoid them. They can deny responsibility; even try to foist it off as 'someone else's fault' but the fact is that it IS their fault. So many elderly go on the local television stations and complain about the con artist who convinced them to withdraw all of their savings and trade it with them for an envelope that is later found to be stuffed with newspapers. Whose fault is it? The one who believes that a stranger has their best interests at heart. The elder who buys cheap property in Mexico to retire - and then finds out that the property has no structures, no infrastructure, and that they can't legally own property in Mexico anyway? It’s their own fault - because they should have researched it. The ads in the Enquirer or World News Daily that promise "For $75 and all of your information, I can get you the money the government owes you!" - and then the advertiser turns out to be wanted for fraud in 3 states, with multiple addresses and a knack for cleaning out his "clients" bank accounts. Who's at fault? The one who gave the thief their social security and bank account numbers, no one else. People of any age who trust strangers with their money, either for a get-rich-quick scheme, investments, or repairs on their house, are at fault for their decisions. Having been a caretaker of just such an adamantly, insistently 'knowledgeable' person, they won't let you have power of attorney even after three or more incidences of gullibility. They are determined to 'keep their independence' until it beggars them - and then point the finger at someone else. There are con artists, thieves, liars, manipulators, and get-rich-quick schemers all around us. When one does not have the ability to discern such things, one is at fault for what befalls them. That is not to say that we should excuse the dupers and con artists - they should always be prosecuted as being responsible - but the fault lies with the ones who are out there who, over and over again, trust them. When a child commits a crime, it is his fault - but the parents' responsibility to make restitution for that crime, as well as to see that the child is a part of making that restitution. And therein lies the similarity between "fault" and "responsibility" - those at fault must share the blame with those who were responsible for perpetrating the fraud. They are both guilty - and they should both pay the penalty for their decisions to either be a victim or to be a predator.

   • Bea Jones
   • 3 months, 1 week ago

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