Remember when you were a child and you'd get into trouble and you'd defend yourself by saying "He was doing it too..." ? "He" may have been a sibling, classmate, friend, or just any old random person who'd done the same thing and gotten away with it. Do you remember how the "He did it too" argument NEVER worked? Well, I do. You probably even got the notorious "If he jumped off a bridge, would you do that too?" reply, often used by authority figures as a response to a child's "He did it too" protestation.
I learned as a child that just because someone else does something wrong, that does not mean that I can do it too, and it surely doesn't mean that my wrongdoing is justified by the fact that I'm not the only party partaking in the wrong.
However, as an adult, I am mystified by the sheer number of grown, intelligent, and powerful people who are still using the "He did it too!" argument. Racists use this argument to justify their use of the N word (Black people use it too!). Political Parties use it to justify why they're not addressing the needs of their constituents (Democrats don't care about you either!). Presidents use it to justify questionable policies (my predecessor did it too!). Sports figures use it to justify poor sportsmanship (Serena lashes out too!), and so on and so on.
I don't know how these people went through their whole lives without someone setting them straight, but "He did it too" is a juvenile and unacceptable argument that I cannot take seriously from anyone over the age of 8. Using someone else's actions to justify your own almost never works. One can not simply set a precedent for wrong doing by which the rest of the world can justify their own wrong. Life doesn't work that way. You are judged by your own actions, inaction, and screw ups. Continuing to lay the burden of responsibility on a random third party does not serve anyone well and certainly doesn't solve or justify the underlying problem.
So I'd like to say to the grown-behind, decades-old, adult people who are still using the "He did it too argument": stop responding to life like third graders and start taking responsibility for yourself, your words and your actions.
And to the third-graders out there who already understand and live by the concept of personal responsibility, I meant no offense...
I learned as a child that just because someone else does something wrong, that does not mean that I can do it too, and it surely doesn't mean that my wrongdoing is justified by the fact that I'm not the only party partaking in the wrong.
However, as an adult, I am mystified by the sheer number of grown, intelligent, and powerful people who are still using the "He did it too!" argument. Racists use this argument to justify their use of the N word (Black people use it too!). Political Parties use it to justify why they're not addressing the needs of their constituents (Democrats don't care about you either!). Presidents use it to justify questionable policies (my predecessor did it too!). Sports figures use it to justify poor sportsmanship (Serena lashes out too!), and so on and so on.
I don't know how these people went through their whole lives without someone setting them straight, but "He did it too" is a juvenile and unacceptable argument that I cannot take seriously from anyone over the age of 8. Using someone else's actions to justify your own almost never works. One can not simply set a precedent for wrong doing by which the rest of the world can justify their own wrong. Life doesn't work that way. You are judged by your own actions, inaction, and screw ups. Continuing to lay the burden of responsibility on a random third party does not serve anyone well and certainly doesn't solve or justify the underlying problem.
So I'd like to say to the grown-behind, decades-old, adult people who are still using the "He did it too argument": stop responding to life like third graders and start taking responsibility for yourself, your words and your actions.
And to the third-graders out there who already understand and live by the concept of personal responsibility, I meant no offense...
No comments:
Post a Comment