It only takes a short amount of time to review the latest news to hear about the actions someone chose to take, and the consequences they received in return. “Man robs bank, sentenced to 10 years in prison“, “Murder suspect caught, receives life without parole“. The list can go on and on. From why someone lost a job, to their political seat and career, we constantly see such stories in the news on a regular basis.
What moved me to write today was the latest in the saga of Lindsey Lohan. For her part in taking a $2500 necklace, she was sentenced yesterday to 120 days in jail. Today, she’s out after only serving 5 hours. 5 hours of a 12o day sentence. How does that work? If you would like to read more, the full article is here: Lindsay Lohan bailed out of jail after 5 hours
So why write about this issue that keeps repeating itself? First off, it keep repeating itself. Lindsay is not alone. Celebrities somehow live in an entirely different world than the rest of us. Put you or me, without any of Ms. Lohan’s history, and 120 days would have been a joke. Unlike Lindsey, who’s sentence went from felony grand theft to a misdemeanor, those not in the celebrity spotlight or favor would have had the full book thrown at them. Would you agree?
Here is where my internal barometer has a hard time getting a read on where we are as a society. Consider the following questions:
- Why are there different standards of accountability in our society that are based upon social or economic status? Why?
- How do we take someone like Michael Vick, who served his sentence and is now back in the spotlight, being considered as one of the finalist for the cover of the EA Sports game, Madden 2012?
- What are the youth of our country being taught about accountability for their actions? Go to time-out and then all is forgiven?
- What does the future look like when the White House is considering pushing forward and moving the federal debt limit higher to avoid another economic crisis?
When do we face up, own up to our problems, and then in return hold ourselves accountable? Laws, policies and rules are in place for a reason. To hold us accountable. Now, you might not agree with some of them, and there are those that I don’t as well. However, they are there and we have a responsiblity to follow them. But what happens when we don’t like them and want to change them to meet our needs?
Have we become too forgiving? Have we forgotten how history often repeats itself? Are we choosing to not learn from the errors of our ways?
Hmmm….
INAMBOOK 