Responsibility and guilt

When leaving the meeting, one approached me and said "You were talking in different frames. In this country we remain anchored in that Christian tradition. You spoke of objective responsibility, which is a legal, organizational concept. They blame, which is a moral concept, archaic and outdated.

Effectively and yes. That had been the problem.

The fault is related to moral judgment. With the one who committed the negligence or who chose to do evil knowingly.

The responsibility, however, is the exact size of the power. It is related to recognizing the consequences of what happened in our area of decision. Well understood, in the decisions we made or omitted to take when we were trained for it. It does not matter if we are talking about a state, an organization or, simply, our own actions.

And it can not be delegated.

Responsibility resigns worthy politicians (yes, there are places where they exist) even being ignorant of certain irregularities. Only for the fact of recognizing that they escaped, without that should be so, to their knowledge or control. It was not the fault, but the responsibility.

I think a lot of the wear and tear of public debates comes from there. We constantly mix responsibility with fault without the slightest criterion.

Let's suppose an unfair situation. A type of abuse either. There are so many ... In the debate on the street, one of the usual resources is "to demand more control / budget from the public authorities". Accusing, also almost always, the private powers of putting the benefit before responsibility. And they, for their part, will surely remind us that they are only responsible for satisfying our consumption demands.

And it is not wrong. But from the construction of the public we always have to participate all those involved. Simplifying: individuals, institutions and the private. Each one with its responsibility well defined and without excuses. You and me too.

Let no one feel accused. Surely we are not to blame for almost nothing of what happens. The board was like this when we arrived, we do not know who started the game, we did not choose the rules and, what the hell, nobody even asked us if we wanted to play.

But the responsibility that touches us, is inexcusable.

Because what was that about freedom and all that?