Who Do We Hold Accountable?

The following article was written by K.A. Atcher, a friend of GOOOH. It is really good. GOOOH seeks to hold our elected officials accountable. Ms. Atcher goes a step further and points out not only how easy it would be for us all to hold others accountable, but that it is our duty to do so.





By K. A. Atcher (1/27/09)


Our new president has promised to change the tone of Washington, and whether you approve of each change or not, he appears to be trying to do what he said he would do – an encouraging sign. Yet, there are some troubling signals already surfacing, witness Mr. Obama’s choice for Treasury Secretary. Timothy Geithner had some unfinished business with the IRS; it seems he neglected to pay his taxes. But if you’re good at what you do, past unethical behavior apparently does not disqualify one for positions of trust. Reuters reported that Mr. Geithner was “too uniquely qualified for Congress to reject . . .” and the New York Times declared there was “no better alternative.” So he gets the job – appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by Congress, despite an admitted disregard for the laws he will be entrusted to enforce.


And why are we surprised? We have become a nation of no accountability and no consequences. Consider the outrageous behavior of athletes who get away with drug use and assault, not to mention bad behavior on the field – if they are especially talented at moving the ball or scoring the run, their talent trumps any violation of ethics or law. And this is an area where We, the Public, could easily enforce a higher standard. Team owners and managers would quickly respond to a drop in attendance; advertisers to our use of the ‘off’ button on our TV sets.


But We, the Public, don’t do that. We may grumble when someone ‘gets away’ with something for which we are convinced we would pay heavily if caught. We think the judge, or the manager, or someone-other-than-me should do better. But we are not willing to inconvenience ourselves to enforce a standard of behavior.


We have much less influence on Wall Street, but do we really care what those CEO’s are doing – as long as our 401k or IRA keeps growing? Private behavior, in the United States, is private and rightly so. But when private behavior spills over into the public domain; when bad behavior has the potential to impact our lives; we need to do more than avert our eyes in embarrassment.


If we are truly outraged at the loss of ethical behavior in Washington, we must start the change at home with the small things that are in our control. We may not have any say in the prosecution and sentencing of Bernie Madoff, but we can hold ourselves, our children, our local school board, to a standard of performance, integrity and accountability. We can conduct our own business to those standards and support only those public figures whose behavior meets those standards.


Yes we need government officials, elected representatives and CEO’s who are honest, open and trustworthy right now – and some currently are, or try to be – but no law passed today will influence a law-breaker except to stimulate greater efforts to get around it. If we want honest government, honest business, we need to produce honest young people, with a sense of honor and duty to others and to their country.


We need teachers – in grade school and high school – who insist on appropriate behavior in the class room, backed by school boards with the courage to put student education ahead of spurious political correctness. We need coaches – high school, college and pro – who will bench their best player for misconduct even if it means losing the big game – there is no more powerful lesson than the shame of letting down your teammates. We need athletic directors who will insist their players actually get a useful education. And, perhaps most critically, we need parents and community members who will support these actions by actively supporting the schools where they do well and boycotting activities that work against the goal of producing good citizens.
It may sound simplistic to suggest we not pay to see movies with themes or actors who do not represent our ideals, or that we deprive ourselves of the pleasure of watching a star athlete perform just because he or she exhibits arrogant disregard for decent behavior, but these ‘stars’ are the role models our young people emulate. Mentoring a single high school athlete, tutoring just one struggling kid who won’t be on the political stage for ten or twenty years, may seem like a waste of time, but nothing else will ultimately put our society back on track.


It doesn’t matter which political party you support, or where you stand on climate change, gun control, abortion, unions, immigration, healthcare – pick your label, pick your slogan – no one is out there campaigning for the right to lie, cheat and steal. Yet, too many of our young people learn that if you can get away with it, it’s OK; and if you get caught you only have to say, “I’m sorry,” and get on with business as usual.


We get to cast a vote for elected officials every two or four years, but a small upside to this current economic downturn is that our scarce dollars now carry more weight. We can vote everyday by choosing where our money goes and how we spend our volunteer hours. Like it or not, you are either part of the solution, or part of the problem. There are no sidelines; we’ve all been pulled into the game.