A smart man once said that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. So, as a policeman , I have some urgent things to say to good people. Days after days my men and I struggle to stop a tidal wave of crime. Something has gone terribly wrong with our once-proud American way of life. It has happened in the area of values. A principle ingredient is disappearing, and I think I know what it is: accountability. Accountability isn’ t hard to define. It means that every person is responsible for his or her actions and liable for their consequences. Of the many values that hold civilization together — honesty, kindness, and so on — accountability may be the most important of all. Without it, there can be no respect, no trust, no law — and, ultimately, no society. My job as a policeman is to impose accountability on people who refuse, or have never learned, to impose it on themselves. But as every policeman knows, external controls on people’ s behavior are far less effective than internal restraints such as guilt, shame and embarrassment. Luckly there are still communities — smaller towns, usually — where schools keep discipline and where parents hold up standards that proclaim: "In this family certain things are not tolerated — they simply are not done!" Yet more and more, especially in our larger cities and suburbs, these inner restraints are loosening. Your typical robber has none. He considers your property his property; he takes what he wants, including your life if you make him very angry. The main cause of this breakdown is a radical shift in attitudes. Thirty years ago, if a crime was committed, society was considered the victim. Now, in a shocking reversal, it’s the criminal who is considered victimized: by his underprivileged upbringing, by the school that didn’ t teach him to read, by the church that failed to teach him with moral guidance, by the parents who didn’ t provide a stable home. I don’ t believe it. Many others in equally disadvantaged circumstances choose not to engage in criminal activities. If we free the criminal, even partly, from accountability, we become a society of endless excuses where no one accepts responsibility for anything. We desperately need more people who believe that the person who commits a crime is the one responsible for it.
A smart man once said that the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. So, as a policeman , I have some urgent things to say to good people.
Days after days my men and I struggle to stop a tidal wave of crime. Something has gone terribly wrong with our once-proud American way of life. It has happened in the area of values. A principle ingredient is disappearing, and I think I know what it is: accountability.
Accountability isn’ t hard to define. It means that every person is responsible for his or her actions and liable for their consequences.
Of the many values that hold civilization together — honesty, kindness, and so on — accountability may be the most important of all. Without it, there can be no respect, no trust, no law — and, ultimately, no society.
My job as a policeman is to impose accountability on people who refuse, or have never learned, to impose it on themselves. But as every policeman knows, external controls on people’ s behavior are far less effective than internal restraints such as guilt, shame and embarrassment.
Luckly there are still communities — smaller towns, usually — where schools keep discipline and where parents hold up standards that proclaim: "In this family certain things are not tolerated — they simply are not done!"
Yet more and more, especially in our larger cities and suburbs, these inner restraints are loosening. Your typical robber has none. He considers your property his property; he takes what he wants, including your life if you make him very angry.
The main cause of this breakdown is a radical shift in attitudes. Thirty years ago, if a crime was committed, society was considered the victim. Now, in a shocking reversal, it’s the criminal who is considered victimized: by his underprivileged upbringing, by the school that didn’ t teach him to read, by the church that failed to teach him with moral guidance, by the parents who didn’ t provide a stable home.
I don’ t believe it. Many others in equally disadvantaged circumstances choose not to engage in criminal activities. If we free the criminal, even partly, from accountability, we become a society of endless excuses where no one accepts responsibility for anything.
We desperately need more people who believe that the person who commits a crime is the one responsible for it.
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