A few days ago the Mine Safety and Health Administration, otherwise known as MSHA, released a report of things it did and did not do that contributed to the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster. This report clearly states that MSHA did not "cause" the disaster, but admits that things they did or didn't do "contributed" to this tragedy. I will not parse words and inquire as to the difference in this blog entry, but it does bring up an interesting thought....Why is it that we only do things the right way, the safe way, the legal way when someone is watching? Apparently, only when someone is watching very closely!!
Massey Energy engaged in operations that were, by all accounts (except their own and their lawyers), illegal, unsafe, inconsistent with proper practice and probably immoral, unethical and fattening as well. They did this because, as the MSHA report indicates, they were not being watched close enough. While I do believe that MSHA bears some responsibility for a lack of supervision, I cannot help but ask the question; at what point does a person, company or any other entity somehow lose the responsibility for acting responsibly, regardless of whether someone is watching them?
In every person's life, there comes a point when we become responsible for our own actions. It is sometimes based on our age, sometimes based on our circumstances. A 21-year-old is presumed to be pretty much responsible for themselves, absent some sort of clear mental defect. A younger person can be placed in a position that gives them responsibility and makes them responsible. I was a young, make that very young, man in the military and found myself in a position of responsibility well beyond my years and experience. I was held to a certain standard by people watching me and to whom I reported, but I was responsible because it was the right thing to do.
Massey Energy, and I think many other corporations, organizations and people, engage in conduct that can ultimately kill people, not just because they can, but because they have adopted a way of thinking that is fundamentally; "There is only one crime...getting caught." This way of thinking is, at its core, immoral, but I also think it is the way our society is developing, unfortunately.
In the world in which the only crime is getting caught, we erode personal responsibility for our actions. Eventually, we eliminate it altogether. We see this tendency every day, but we do not see the ultimate conclusion. How many of us speed when we drive? I do not mean 90 in a 55 mph zone, I mean 10 or 15 mph over the limit routinely? I know I drive 8 mph over every speed limit. I do it because I can. I happen to know that unless I am in a school zone, I am not going to get a ticket. Does the fact that I know a police officer is extremely unlikely to write a citation for this number of miles per hour over the speed limit make it any less illegal?
Please note that I use the term erode, because it is a slow process, glacial in its progress and barely noticeable. It is not cause and effect. Nobody that speeds is going to, as a result, also do something that is reckless. The point is that it is so easy to do and we are all do it. That does not make it right or responsible.
It makes no difference whether it is Massey Energy, cigarette companies, or a man charged with murder. Every one of them will refuse to take responsibility for their actions and blame it on someone or something else. Massey Energy blames the lack of inspections for the methane blast that killed more than two dozen men. It was notour responsibility to do things right, it is yours to catch us. The cigarette companies; God only knows how they justify what they make, other than lie to themselves and blame the smoker for personal weakness that eventually kills them. I guess it is the legal idea of assumed liability; there is a warning label on every pack, so it is the fault of the poor dumb SOB that smokes. The murderer blames the fact that his mother was an alcoholic, the fact that he was from a broken home or a myriad of other reasons why he should not be put to death for the killing of another. While I do not personally believe in the death penalty, I am able to recognize the technique used to avoid ultimate responsibility for one's actions. In lesser crimes we allow entrapment as a defense. I happen to agree that how you catch someone committing a crime in our democracy is important, but I can also acknowledge that it subverts the concept that people committing crimes are responsible for those crimes.
I cannot help but wonder whatever happened personal responsibility for one's own actions. I do not think the concept of "it's always someone else's fault serves us well, neither personally, nor as a society. I do not understand how an entire society can seemingly lose so much respect for personal morality, ethics and responsibility, absent someone monitoring their behavior. They behave only because they might get caught. Maybe that is why we are turning into a society of video cameras and transducers that can monitor our every move and project our personal information; it is the only reason we will act like decent human being.
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