RESPONSIBILITY
Marcus S. Ettinger DC, BSc
Medical Detective and Orange County Chiropractor
During the last 50 years, our planet’s population has been witness to global terrorism, global warming, world-wide glacial melting, over-population, dwindling natural resources, pharmaceutical drugs being consumed like candy, ADD/ADHD, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, Prozac, an epidemic called welfare, morbid obesity, world hunger, blah, blah, blah, and the list goes on. Why have all of these things occurred? The cause is a global pandemic known as, “lack of personal responsibility.” It is an insidious little parasite, immune to all medications, responding only to pro-survival actions.
The dictionary has many definitions for the word “responsible.” The first one fits what I feel I do as a doctor: “legally or ethically accountable for the welfare of another.” When I graduated from college, I swore an oath to be responsible for anyone who sought my care, and I feel I have never violated that oath.
There are two other definitions that fit how I act in my personal life and how others, if responsible, should act. 1) “Involving personal accountability or ability to act without guidance or superior authority.” 2) “Capable of making moral or rational decisions on one’s own, therefore answerable for one’s behavior.”
The reason I am bringing this issue up now, is because the word responsible has been losing its meaning, little by little, year after year, most notably in the last 25 or so years. I have been personally witnessing and feeling the effects of this, in my practice and in my surroundings, for some time now.
In this essay, I am only going to focus on the topic of “health and responsibility.” As for personal responsibility and the other aspects of one’s life, just be honest with yourself. If you haven’t been applying the definitions of responsibility then go for it. The people and the world around you will see the change and acknowledge you for it.
