The people who think that everyone is responsible for everything that happens to them sow artificial blindness. They want people to take the blame for things that aren’t their fault and to take credit for things that aren’t their doing.

You don’t owe your state only to yourself. You also owe it to parents who raised you, the teachers who educated you, the military and police that protect you, the business and labor that provide your prosperity, and the intellectuals and Freemasons who gave you your liberty.

What people such as these really do is blind people to the external conditions. I am no more responsible for the computer industry crashing in 2000 than am I responsible for it growing during the previous decade. To actually make a responsible and informed decision, I need to understand the conditions under which I operate. And the people who think that everyone is responsible for everything that happens to them do not do that.

Responsibility presupposes knowledge; and that means also knowledge of external conditions. Failing to do the same is not empowerment and it is not personal responsibility. It is blindness. I need to understand the world in which I operate in order to make a responsible decision. And people who fail to do that blind themselves to the realities of the world.

No, I did not create myself. No, I did not create America. I am responsible for what I myself do; and for me to act in a responsible manner I need to understand the conditions under which I operate.

If I were to shoot you, it wouldn’t be your consciousness and it would not be your karma. It would be my choice. The only thing I need to do to take apart such beliefs is shoot you; and then you would have to claim that it is your fault.

I don’t say such things because I fail to take responsibility for myself. I say such thing because these beliefs are morally wrong. I am privileged, and the idea that I am responsible for that state of affairs stands to work in my favour. I reject it because it is wrong. Once again, if this were the case then me shooting you would be your fault rather than mine. And that is a damnable doctrine.

Can people improve their condition? Of course they can. But even them being able to do so is not solely their responsibility. They can do such a thing because they live in a country where it is possible to do such a thing. Whereas if they had been in North Korea, they would not be able to do that.

Now when someone is whining about his bad fortune, he should be confronted. He should be reminded of the situation of people who have it worse than does he, of whom there will always be plenty. I don’t whine about my bad fortune. I am privileged, and I know it. I am using that position to make contributions that I would not have been in a position to make if I had been less privileged.

I don’t do anyone any favours by blaming myself for the Reagan Republicans defunding the academia or for the computer industry crashing in 2000. I do people favours by confronting the problems for what they are. Both internal-caused and external-caused problems must be seen for what they are, and they need to be addressed accordingly. In most cases there will be a need both for working on the self and for working on the world. I do both.

Separate the valid from the invalid. It is valid to act in a responsible manner; it is not valid to blind yourself to the realities of the world. Understand the world correctly, and work to impact it in a wise manner. And see yourself become a force for good in the world.