Over the holidays I read an article that really reminded me just how differently people can view the world and their place in it. Given my existential response to the content of the article, I’m sure you’ve already guessed… it was about financial regulation.
The article looked back at the preceding ten years lamenting the lack of new consumer protection laws and agencies proposed in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008. One sentence – intended to condemn an epic legislative failure – literally stunned me. It read, “Ten years later, consumers arguably bear the brunt of responsibility to look after their own best interests.”
Wait… what!? Do we really now consider it unthinkable to expect people to take responsibility for their own interests?
I sincerely hope the deep and numerous issues with this statement stand out to most people immediately. But I’m worried they won’t.
Is This Really What We Want?
Is our ultimate societal goal really to relinquish responsibility for our own best interests to a third party who doesn’t even know us? Are we truly happy to give our personal lives over to someone else to decide what’s best for us?
Following the logic of the article I read, we might expect to see new limits on the type of financing we could use to purchase a home, or maybe restrictions on how many homes we can buy and sell in a given time frame. Maybe that doesn’t strike you as a problem, but what happens when we address other issues with the same approach?
Hey, healthcare costs are rising at an unsustainable rate, and we know sugar leads to expensive health problems, so let’s ban it! While we’re at it, physical activity is clearly critical to good health… mandate it!
And how about college students graduating with huge debts, frequently unable to find jobs in their chosen field? Why not use aptitude testing to choose the educational path for kids, so they don’t ruin their lives with poor choices?
Let’s Go to the Movies or Read a Book
There is no great literature about people following a path carefully chosen for them, leading a safe and unchallenging life. There are no movies about people contentedly filling the roles chosen for them by others and then dying happily. Everything from Fahrenheit 451, to The Matrix, to 1984, to The Truman Show shows us heroes breaking out from systems built to provide them with a life free of concerns, but also lacking any real freedom. They break out for something decidedly harder, messier and more fraught with danger… and in doing so, they inspire us. Why?
We RISE to the Challenge
There is a strong, but ultimately hollow appeal to the idea that life can – through the right application of rules and oversight – be made safe and carefree. In the end, that’s no life at all. We need to repeatedly make mistakes, figure out what we did wrong, make adjustments and finally realize we grew to handle something previously beyond our grasp. Sure, it’s messy, but I believe the process is an enormous piece of what rightfully makes us feel whole and accomplished and gives us a sense of fulfillment we all need.
Let’s refrain from looking back on the past ten years and wishing more could have been done to protect us from ourselves. Instead, let’s launch this new decade by aiming for the challenging, but ultimately fulfilling path of taking responsibility for ourselves, our actions and their consequences. That’s a meaningful life.