Since when did the words "personal responsibility" become taboo?

[gollygee]

99. We aren't really masters of our own fate

Compare someone who grows up white and wealthy to a powerful family, to someone who grows up a person of color and poor to a single parent having trouble maintaing a home. They have some control over their future, but the first person started on third base and will have an easier time getting to home plate. To say we are masters of our own fate is to ignore that we don't control everything we started with. We only control where we go from there, and even that journey is easier for some people than others because of forces outside of our control.

The reason people respond poorly to the "personal responsibility" statements is because the assumption behind it is that anyone can succeed if they take responsibility for themselves, and also that how much we take responsibility for ourselves is directly related to how successful we are. If you were raised in foster care, you're going to have a very difficult time becoming a success no matter how much you are responsible for your person. And if you are born to a CEO of a large corporation or to a high ranking government official, you are pretty likely to succeed even if you aren't all that responsible.