Religion IV - What are my beliefs and values, and relevence to today?

I believe in the virtue of responsibility. Even though these days I'm not very responsible, I still feel that it is a very important virtue to learn in life, especially now with things like college coming up. Also, it is likely that responsibility may have well been able to avert historical events such as the Great Depression and today's economic crisis.

After high school, no one can slack off anymore, because more likely than not, you are going to be on your own, and before leaving home, you would have to be prepared, right? As a result, you might spend time over the years learning various things like grocery shopping and driving, as well as good study habits, so you can survive on your own. In other words, you are learning to be responsible, productive, and diligent.

One other thing: being responsible creates trust, which in itself is very rewarding. For example, let's say that you have started a part-time job at a store. You work very hard, and you are honest to everyone, and, as time goes on, your employer may come to trust you enough to promote you to, say, co-manager. There would be no other reason for a promotion like that to occur unless the employer has deemed the employee responsible enough to handle the job.

Unfortunately, not everyone is responsible, and in a few cases, has caused problems on a global scale. In the 1920s and today, the respective economic crisis that occurred or is occurring could have been averted if people had been a little more responsible in the contributing markets (the Bull Market of the Twenties and the real estate market of today). What I mean is that during the Twenties, people relied too much on the stock market, and on top of that, made it harder for Britain and France to pay for their debts from the first World War by raising tariffs. As a result, a great depression in the world economy eventually occurred. Similarly, in recent years, banks have been making too many loans to people who are not able to pay them off, creating foreclosures, eventually causing today’s recession.

The virtue of responsibility has a great impact on nearly all our lives. Applying it can have a positive impact while neglecting it can be harmful. No matter what happens, even if you try and avoid it, it will be faced eventually. Responsibility can’t be avoided.