I was pondering some of the challenges facing our great nation today, trying to put my finger on one thing that is lacking in our economic slump and of all the missing virtues and numerous problems, one virtue continued to come to the surface over and over again.
Accountability is a vital part of any scenario’s success. Take these scenarios for example:
Christian men are currently in a fight against divorce, being responsible fathers and staying away from substance abuse and pornography. Sounds pretty bad huh? Its not like the Christian man is any different as far as temptation is concerned than those who don’t choose to live by the virtues of Christ. The difference is that Christian men try to set themselves apart from some things things those who aren’t Christian deem “appropriate”. Pastors and leaders in the Church have found that accountability is one of the most powerful concepts there is that can keep men true to Christ and Christ’s way of life. Accountability is a frequent topic in study groups, small groups and Christian literature and this is for a good reason; it works. Accountability forces men to have a personal connection, to have communication and it keeps them honest.
Sports have always stressed accountability. Football and basketball coaches, soccer coaches and every other sport in between consider accountability to your teammates as an utmost necessity. If you don’t recognize your teammates as an integral piece in your formula for success you cannot win the big games. All for one and one for all might have been the three musketeers chant but its very relevant in sports. Many times assists are looked at as favorably as three pointers in basketball and the man who makes good blocks is just as important as the running back in football.
Human resource officers and other business leaders frequently tout the importance of accountability in the workplace. Whether you are a lineman watching out for your buddy while he works on high power electrical lines, a miner always making sure your co-workers make it out of the mine, or an accountant making sure you follow IRS guidelines to assure your client is keeping the most assets they can, accountability is of utmost importance in the workplace.
The military is perhaps one of the greatest voices of accountability. Who has a greater level of accountability than the soldier who fights with his fellow soldier on the front line day in and day out? The Marines never leave their own behind. The military chain of command when exercised properly is a beauty to behold and the underlying accountability in the execution of a breech exercise is frightening in its efficiency.
With the importance of accountability firmly established, why is it some of the most important people in our nation get a pass on accountability? Our congress which is bound by the Constitution of the United States of America, should ultimately be accountable to the people whom it represents, yet time and time again we see that these men and women, our representatives, cast votes that are totally unaccountable. Our Presidents who make countless promises during their election campaigning can go about their merry way and never have to worry about being held accountable to the statements they made. Who are they being accountable to if not us? Are they being accountable to their own ideals, campaign supporters money, lobbyists, possibly foreign interests? The list can go on and on and it is obvious with continually accelerating taxes, more regulations and less life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that accountability to “we the people” is simply not there!
Who is to blame in this? I believe its the mainstream media that is the great equalizer in this equation. Does the media understand it is the double-edged sword that can swing both ways? The media can swing to the left or the right and it should frequently do so. The media should attack opponents of accountability but for the most part we see in these dark times that the media is the most un-accountable group there is. The media seems to be completely biased towards one point of view. There is no accountability to uphold the truth, it seems that the media mainly wants to uphold an agenda. Accountability cannot come solely from the people. We can vote people in and out but accountability must keep them true to their words when they finally fill into the voting assembly. The media is the great equalizer because they can identify the lack or sustenance of accountability, but even then there must be a deeper accountability that is fashioned by ethics and morality and that must have a solid basis.
Accountability is really what the Bill of Rights was all about. We were accountable to our fellow man, we were accountable to God and our representatives were accountable to us…. but what we see happening in this country is that a new Bill of Indulgences has been penned that has replaced the sacred documents of our forefathers where we are accountable to no-one, everyone owes us something and we are the creator of our own reality. This is a sad path we are going down and without accountability in all levels of our society there is no way we can persist.
