By now you have probably heard about the employee that was trampled to death in a New York Wal-Mart on “Black Friday”.  The 34 year old seasonal worker was killed by a stampede of frantic shoppers eager to find a bargain, some of which had been camped out since 9 pm on Thanksgiving night.  In the aftermath of this event, shoppers and the local police are pointing fingers at Wal-Mart claiming that the store “could have and should have better prepared for the large crowds” and a New York Councilman announced plans to enact legislation that will require retailers to provide greater security during major sales.

 

What happened to personal accountability?  As far as I know, no one has been charged with any crime and the people responsible for this tragedy will have to live with the knowledge that they took another human life so they could save a few dollars on a present that will probably be forgotten by next year.  Do we really need security personnel to tell us that it is not ok walk over a human being?  I’ve got news for those people claiming that security was inadequate – Black Friday was not limited to this single store.  Retailers all over the United States held similar sales and they were able to do so without trampling a person to death.

 

From people borrowing more than they could afford and CEOs taking private jets to Washington looking for handouts to shoppers acting like sharks in feeding frenzy, this is just the latest news item to underscore something that is becoming more apparent:  we are a society of blame.  Listen to politicians, corporate leaders, your neighbor, or yourself and you will usually hear about what someone else should have done or how the government should provide more “regulation”.  That is not the sentiment on which the country was founded!  If we continue to pass the buck and ask the government to regulate home loans, retirement plans, and Christmas shopping, we will continue to erode the freedoms that we enjoy all because we lack the personal accountability and moral responsibility to do the right thing.  It is time we stop pointing out all of those specks in other people’s eyes and get to work on the log in our own eye.