What has happened to personal responsibility?

Question

There are a few cases that I know of (civil law cases) where it seems that personal responsibility has been all but forgotten. I will give you a brief run down on the first ones that come to mind.

1. A woman walking down the street texting on her phone trips over some uneven paving outside a shop. She proceeds to sue the city council and shop owner for injuries and damages.

2. A woman buys a cup of coffee and while driving spills it into her lap. She sues the company for injury and damages.

3. A man while robbing a house is injured by a fence as he flees. He later sues the owner, claiming that the fence was dangerous, for injury and damages. (Note: He is arrested and charged for the break and enter)

The question is ‘How could these cases have come to be in front a court to begin with?’ Why is it that in the above cases personal responsibility was seemingly not considered?

I do not know the intimate details of the above cases (nor do I care to) but I do know the details of others, which I am not at liberty to divulge, where personal responsibility was replaced with external accountability. By that I mean, instead of the individual taking responsibility for their own actions they attempt to blame others for their mistakes. 

Surely in the above cases if you are unable to keep an awareness of your surroundings while texting, then don’t walk and text. Likewise if your vehicle does not have cup holders then how about getting out of your car and enjoying your drink in the store, or if you don’t have the time wait until you get to your destination for your coffee. And surely I don’t need to go into what is wrong with the third example.

We are all invested with certain rights, like the right to live in a safe environment and the right to buy safe products. However with the exercising of a right comes a responsibility. We have the right to live in a safe environment true but we also have the responsibility to ensure that we are taking due care so as to not put ourselves in harm’s way.  We have a right to buy safe products but we have a responsibility to use those same products in a safe way. 

It would appear that at no point did anyone tell those involved in the above experiences to ‘pull their socks up’, that they were the primary cause of their own situation. At what point did the right begin to outweigh the responsibility? When did the onus on the individual cease and the burden on the society start?

[ As an aside, I believe that there is a place for ‘Bright as a two watt bulb’ legislation. Laws were if the individual involved was acting in a manner which is likely to cause harm then they are left to foot the bill, situations like texting while not looking where your going.]

In terms of our society and culture, our laws and systems of justice, our families and our communities what has happened to personal responsibility and how has it changed?

Thanks.

rebekkah hot as the sun · Accepted Answer

Some people look for the easy way out of everything.  What is the easy way out?  Blaming others for your problems and suing so you get quick and easy money.

Uncle Wayne · Answer

I think that all started with a court case back in the early 40s  of a person who sued for falling down some stairs because the risers were of different heighths . The court ruled that it was unlawful for a person to build an unsafe structure.

Then a national building code was established  ....  and made it unlawful to build stairs or steps that had risers that differed by more than 1/4 inch.

PS: The hot coffee law suit against McDonalds was the most ridiculous case I could imagine.

Edit: Why did the woman spill coffee in her lap?   I have done that a few times, but I didn't sue my wife for it, it was my fault.    "You made your coffee too hot for me, I am going to sue you"

Why in the heck do you think they call it "Hot Coffee"?

The next thing we will hear is someone suing because the ice cream was too cold. "You made your ice cream too cold, when I put it on my genitals it gave me frostbite"

Coffee editorial: In the frontier days coffee was made by boiling it.  It had to reach a rolling boil in order to make.  Can you imagine someone telling/crying to the camp cook, "You made your coffee too hot"   ---

And another thing, when you pick up a cup of coffee your hand will get a feel for how hot it is, if it is so hot that your hand feels uncomfortable you shouldn't gulp it or pour it down pants.

Anonymous · Answer

Simply in our evolution path we have reached such a level of our egoism, that we became 100% self centered, not even noticing anything outside of our own bubble.
In the cases you mentioned each participant was rightfully convinced of their own righteousness, as it made perfect sense within their own bubble, and this is the kind of behavior society is promoting anyway. There are about 7billion individuals, with 7billion different, disconnected realities today, this is why we are heading towards an ever deepening crisis, because we do not even have a chance of understanding each other, even within the same families these days.
There is no more personal responsibility, and there is no room for such thing anymore. We live in a global, interconnected world, where each of us depend on the other, and until we all understand that we are all responsible for even the most distant event, happening on the other side of the world, and see our own part in the most disconnected crime or happiness in the lives of complete strangers, we have no chance of bursting these bubbles.
Instead of personal responsibility we reached the time of global responsibility.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKyk_QG_LXA

Raatz · Answer

That seems to me to be about being excessively litigious rather than a more abstract comment on 'personal responsibility'. People think suing solves everything. I don't think there was some utopian individualized past.

Patty&amp;Joe H · Answer

I think that the main culprit is religion.  If people believe that a god is in control of their lives then how can they be responsible for their own actions?  I believe that we should be taught from birth that we create our own reality and that we control everything that happens.  Nothing happens "to" us unless we attract it to us, and there is no such thing as an accident.

? · Answer

What you are describing is what has come to be known as a 'compensation culture', which really sums it up.

Anonymous · Answer

I'm not reading all this.  The woman who sued about McDonald's coffee had 3rd degree burns on her legs and genitals.  Why does coffee need to be that hot?  It doesn't and it's not safe to serve coffee that hot.

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What has happened to personal responsibility?

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