Contemplations on Responsibility

All of us have responsibilities, but there are a few fundamental ones that we all share. I would like to discuss the responsibility of self-defense.

The courts have ruled that the police are not specifically and individually responsible for your defense. They have a duty to defend the public at large, but they do not have a duty to follow you specifically around 24/7/365 with their guns drawn. That is patently impractical obviously.

So if the police cannot protect you at all times, who can? You can. After all, only you are with you 24/7.

So now that we have established that the only person capable of protecting you at all times is yourself, let us consider another scenario. You are walking down a street and see a mugger beating a 70 year old woman about the head and shoulders while she is desperately trying to hold onto her purse and begging for anyone to help her. Do you have a responsibility to help her? I would argue that every person within earshot of the woman has a moral responsibility to come to her aid.

That is a fundamental part of being a member of society. We all have a responsibility to each other. We can argue until we are blue in the face as to how far that responsibility extends, but I think we can all agree there is a responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Therefore, instead of being afraid of those who would take the time and trouble to arm themselves against those who would do us all harm, we should instead praise them and thank them. They have shouldered the burden of not only protecting themselves and their family but they have chosen to help protect the stranger on the street as well.