Another attack has occurred on the concept of individual responsibility. Your Oct. 27 headline read: “System doomed Joseph.” Apparently, we are to believe that someone or some system other than Joseph Wallace’s mother was responsible for his tragic death.
Our tax dollars supported her for years. With each additional child, additional tax dollars were presented to the Wallace family, thereby encouraging the perception that the family was the responsibility of society. Further, our resources were spent, via numerous agencies, to monitor and, hopefully, improve this “dysfunctional family.” How many more dollars were to be spent on specialized educational services?
As with so many similar cases, the focus of attention has been on what the “system” did wrong as opposed to what the perpetrator of the crime did wrong. As this philosophy spreads, the concept of individual responsibility will be relegated to the dusty pages of our history books. Our society as we knew it continues to “de-evolutionize” and “dysfunctionalism” is consuming us all.
If the “system” is culpable at all, it is in allowing Wallace to think that she could continue to add additional burdens on society without any plan, sense of purpose or responsibility. Additional dollars should not be spent investigating the specifics of the tragic Joseph Wallace incident. Instead, let us focus on preventing the proliferation of dependent families in the first place.
