"One often hears about the need for individuals to take responsibility for their own lives. However, the conditions in which people find themselves ha

"One often hears about the need for individuals to take responsibility for their own lives. However, the conditions in which people find themselves have been largely established long before people become aware of them. Thus, the concept of personal responsibility is much more complicated and unrealistic than is often assumed."

Often do we hear statements pertaining to personal responsibility like “Take charge of your life!” or “You make your own destiny.” This is especially relevant in today's time and age where we are given increasing amounts of freedom to make choices and goals in many areas of our lives. However, as easy as it is to produce and verbalize empowering statements, how easy is it to really to take responsibility of your own life? According to the issue topic statement, there are conditions where people are born into or are established largely before they became aware of them, therefore making personal responsibility a harder concept to actualize.

As we take more progressive steps towards a modern and democratic society, we are given more freedom and opportunities to take more responsibility of many aspects of our lives. The “American Dream” is the ideal embodiment of this concept. The premise of the American Dream is: In the “land of opportunities”, anyone, no matter what their background, can work their way up with hard work and perseverance. However, how true is this concept? Is the American Dream truly attainable by the merit of hard work alone? The American Dream does not take into consideration pre-established circumstances that can impede the realization of that dream. People come from different starting points and backgrounds, and there are some that come from backgrounds that provide less opportunities than others. The circumstances which surround such people can affect control over personal responsibility. A boy born into a poor neighborhood might aspire to go to college. However, he might not have the financial means to do so, and even with hard work he might not be able to attain a scholarship that he always wanted. Therefore, the concept of personal responsibility is much more complicated and unrealistic than is often assumed.

Looking through the threads of human history, there are also many evidences that indicate that the concept of personal responsibility was not the choice of the individual. Before the abolishment of the caste system in India, the citizens were put into social classes with no possibility of movement between the social ranks. The concept of personal responsibility was non existent. Status and social responsibility was something that a person was born into, not the personal choice of the individual nor were they allowed to rise above it. The same was for the black slaves before the black emancipation movement. Black slaves did not have any choice in making decisions for themselves as they were treated as the property of their masters. Both are examples of where where social circumstances played a larger role than individual control.

In conclusion, the concept of personal responsibility can be at times unrealistic and over idealized. There is no denying that pre-established circumstances can play a hand in it, therefore rendering the actualization of self responsibility more complicated than is assumed.