asking for personal responsibility vs victim blaming

I love how people find the right way to say things, when I only have an experience to explain it. Thank you guys for saying the aspects of what I was trying to express. Brenna and Silvermane I agree with both of you. You have to really push forward and accept you were the victim of that moment, then fight to let that never happen again. Its like what I am doing now. Even though its hard I'm pushing forward.

There are a lot of examples that I am thinking about (most political) in which people have not taken responsibility for their own safety, expecting the government to "bail them out" and then never being happy with the government for what support they received. The lazy, selfish, egocentric, %*^&# that have no clue as to the harm they cause others for their actions, continue to choke the system so that those in real need cannot get the help they so rightly deserve.

There are also some examples of people not being aware of the situation they have gotten into, and have been assaulted. Whether physical assault or rape, the outcome is at times predictable because from the eyes of experience and distance. We can see why it happened and the events set into motion that created the opportunity for someone to come into harms way. It is the lack of self preservation that has been lost. Society has become so dependent on the government to "take care of them" that they have forgotten how to take care of themselves. It is easier to blame someone else and sue in court, than it is to accept the blame for your situation... on the one-and-only person who could change it...Yourself!
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I know there are many times in which a person could do everything right and still end up a victim. These are the people I want to help and protect. These are the people I as a firefighter am proud to serve for. It is the leaches of society, the abusers of the system that I find disdaining. The "Blame others and maybe I can get something free" attitude that I have run across so many times is the most maddening. As REN eluded to, I blame the enablers for this blight, and most of the time it is the Government itself that chooses to enable. This is how you make the people indebted to the government and win votes. Poor education, food programs for the undeserving, no jobs, workers compensation so high the people don't need to find a job.

SORRY, I swore to myself I wouldn't get too political. None the less, we are all personally responsible for every action we take, and every situation we encounter, History will assign blame, not us!

There is a part of me that wants to say that it does not matter if the person got into a situation themselves or not, just help. There is a part of me that says you got yourself into this mess, you get out of it. What it boils down to is this...If you tell me "Hey, I messed up but I don't know what to do, or, I don't know why this happened, but at this time I'm too traumatized to think clearly, or, Yes it's my fault but I could use a hand", I'm there for you with no second thought. But if you start with blaming others and giving excuses why you deserve help...You're on your own!

I want to say this in a separate post...

No person deserves or should in any way be assaulted in a manner that would cause physical or mental harm. No person has the right to cause harm to another. PERIOD!

It does not matter what the situation, a persons body is their own and no one other has a right to do harm to it. Whether the person was dressed in a manner that showed too much skin, whether they were drunk and acting stupidly, or whether you just disagreed during an argument, at no time is there a right to inflict suffering upon another.

Who is to blame is not the cause for action or inaction on my part. A person in need of help will have it.

I think we should always help others and ourselves, given opportunity. Yes we may screw up, we are only human, that's life, we'll learn from our mistakes but the odds are in our favor of making the world a better place if we act. I feel it is better to do what you believe is right than not do anything or just observe. Not just in this situation but in all of life.

There will always be exceptions and inequalities that's life.

Phortis Nespin wrote: I want to say this in a separate post...

No person deserves or should in any way be assaulted in a manner that would cause physical or mental harm. No person has the right to cause harm to another. PERIOD!

It does not matter what the situation, a persons body is their own and no one other has a right to do harm to it. Whether the person was dressed in a manner that showed too much skin, whether they were drunk and acting stupidly, or whether you just disagreed during an argument, at no time is there a right to inflict suffering upon another.

Who is to blame is not the cause for action or inaction on my part. A person in need of help will have it.

It's not quite that simple though is it? Not even for physical harm. there are the BDSM crowd who disagree. there are people who agree with self arm. Heck, just look at the abortion debate: Full of evil people. You have the evil people who want to control others' lives, and then there are the evil fetus killers. Have you ever seen a medical operation being performed? Often it makes butchers look like a bunch of PETA activists.

Look at the history of family. It is now that it benefits from "protection" (as in: whenever there's a dispute there's a law for it) that it dies. I think, if let's say you get caught cheating, you are far, far better off getting a couple of punches and plates thrown at you than [strike]free[/strike] expensive trips to court after being escorted out of your own house by the cops... Making "justice" wrong and the physical assault "right".

I would think that if a person is into BDSM and all the icky stuff you talked about, that is then their choice to be hurt and therefore not taken in the same context of causing harm unduly to another. I should have specified that, but I am not prone to think in realms of the BDSM sort of thing. :blink:

However, the abortion thing is a huge discussion that is very political and volatile in and of itself.

Just a note from my perspective... Although a woman has the rights to her own body, the line between killing the fetus and protecting the woman's rights is soooo mucked up. I am glad I do not have to make that choice and do not envy any woman who has. Nor would I assign blame because of the no win choice.