Reaping what you sow; facing consequences

I heard an interview the other day with lawyer Sidney Powell. While I am not commenting on the rights or wrongs of what she said and did, I was struck by a comment she made. I am paraphrasing, but in summary, she felt it was wrong that she was being sued for what she had said about a company and/or its people. Her comment was that there should be no followup from the aggrieved parties and that she should be able to say whatsoever she wants about whomsoever she wants without any consequence.

Coincidentally, I had earlier heard an interview of some UK farmers or fishers or drivers who had voted for the UK leaving the European Union, and were now losing their livelihoods as a direct result of Brexit. All felt that they should not have to suffer the consequence of their vote. They did not say their vote was wrong or poorly cast, only that they should not be negatively affected by the result thereof.

In the same newscast, several of those being prosecuted for entering the US Capitol on January 6 were reported as being shocked that or in tears because they were on trial and facing prison sentences. Again, they were saying that they should not accountable for what they had done.

The three pieces were linked coincidentally; I do not think they news director had an agenda. I might not even have linked them, until I heard a fourth piece about "cancel culture". An executive had lost his job because of inappropriate sexual comments and gestures towards subordinates, and the person being interviewed labelled this as being "cancelled".   

We have a societal problem here. Again and again and again I hear a wailing and gnashing of teeth because "x" happened, and inevitably what is left out is that this is the result of a prior action or decision. I am not saying that everyone should always be punished, although I do think there is an argument for viewing a deliberate and intentional act differently from an accidental or one with an unforeseen outcome. And we know that reward/punishment based systems lead to promotion / deception rather than to really changing behavior.

However we do need to take responsibility for our actions, and to accept that actions have consequences. I am not advocating for a return to stocks and to tarring and feathering, but this argument that someone can do and say anything without any effect really needs to be seen for what it is.

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