Responsibility

When discussing ownership, we are talking about responsibility. The less ownership there is, the less responsible people feel toward things. True responsibility takes action to improve one's lot. When we train our youth that the community is responsibility for their actions, they feel less responsible for themselves. This increases crime and dependency. We still want a society that has compassion for others and wants to help those who are in need. The concept of ownership and the concept of compassion for those without are good in the right amounts and with the proper applications. We are looking at what applications give us the best community. As is the usual manner, the extremes are examined first; the excesses and deficiencies. Rather than  calling anything utterly bad, in these studies, we look at the merits of each idea. So far it has been concerning personal relationships and how much responsibility we should have for raising our children and taking care of a family verses how much that should be the community's responsibility.


What conditions cause people to become loyal to each other and their community? This will also apply to the state when it comes to warfare, and overall welfare of the participants. When a community breaks down into a free love community, the goal becomes what is the most pleasurable at the time. This makes the people vulnerable and gullible since they can be led about by their appetites rather than reason. It becomes more about what makes them feel good rather than what is actually good. There is a plurality since we also want to have freedom to do as we please and enjoy life. That is why it is good to encourage teh personal traits of temperance and independence so individuals can have pride in their accomplishments and stay motivated. A strong family environment with a good education system is the most effective environment to nurture this. The state shouldn't interfere and erode family relationships yet we might give them responsibility for education in a family cannot provide.

The more people own themselves and their families, the stronger a community becomes. When ownership and responsibility is spread over a large group, the participants aren't as responsible. People become indifferent since there isn't an environment of close personal relationships or exchanges. This indifference makes it easier to commit crimes without conscience and also produces poor leaders. Those who have been raised to show honor to parents and siblings will show honor to fellow citizens. A state exists for the independence of its citizens. It is better that the people governing are normal citizens and not career politicians. This way they have a private life similar to those they represent.

Concerning personal things, we have concluded in the past, it is much more difficult to cast them off on governing since there are so many factors involved. A person of good character will be responsible for himself and be cooperative in limited areas; a passive person will depend on others for every area; an aggressive person might be independent but will refuse to cooperate at all. So good character is the foundation of having a good state. We see concerning personal things, it is best to limit the level of cooperation only to specific areas and encourage self motivation, lest the people become resentful toward each other and the state loses its ability to support itself because of bickering, blame and lack of motivation.

When it comes to the economy and principles of ownership we can sort things out with much more clarity. The Greeks experimented with communism also and they have an interesting take on this.