The most sought after thing in America

Everywhere you turn, everyone is searching for the same thing: Blame.

You don't hear anyone stand up and say, "Wow, I did the wrong thing. I am responsible." No one uses that old-fashioned rhetoric and more.

The New Orleans residents who decided not to evacuate their homes ahead of the coming hurricane, and were subsequently flooded, blame the mayor, the governor, FEMA, George Bush.

Natalie Holloway's mother blames the government of Aruba and perhaps, Holland, but certainly not her daughter's possible reckless behavior.

The government is blaming some employee for leaking the news of the phone wire tapping, and blaming the New York Times of endangering American security for publishing the story.

A bus or a train wrecks and everyone is trying to decide who to blame.

An airplane crashes into a river and everyone is trying to determine who to blame.

This is largely an American phenomenon. Or, at minimun a feature of the more affluent Western nations. Walk down the street of some poorer community in Mexico. If there is a sidewalk at all, you may suddenly find broken or missing concrete. With your head in the air, you could fall on your face. The rule here is, watch where you're going or pay the consequences. In America someone could feint a fall, then blame, and later sue, the city, the owner of adjacent property, the company that built the original sidewalk, and perhaps even the company that mixed the concrete.

There always has to be someone you can blame, and in our society that means you could go to court and force them to support you for the rest of your life.

How can we change this? There is a long term solution: parents teaching their children to take responsibility for their actions.

In the short term, we might put a stop to frivolous lawsuits.