Personal responsibility vs collective responsibility 

I’d like to briefly address personal responsibility vs. collective responsibility through an anecdote. 

It’s a windy day today and as I was walking from my car to the deli, there was a shopping cart from a nearby store in the parking lot. The store doesn’t have dedicated corrals on the lot or by the store’s exterior. The cart was free standing, and there were many cars in the lot. Being a windy day, it was only a matter of time before the cart began moving on its own and invariably damage a car. 

Now, this wasn’t my cart. I didn’t shop at the store, I just so happen to be in the shopping center at this time. But with no one else around, no one else could move this cart away from the other cars in the parking lot. I did what I thought was best, and I moved the cart to the sidewalk close to where I was going, and laid the cart down on its side so the wind couldn’t move it. I hope this was out of the way enough where people won’t trip over it. 

So while I didn’t have to move the cart, I did so anyway because it does a collective good to take an action even if you don’t have to. And leaving a place better than you found it is good, even if it doesn’t personally benefit you or even if it inconveniences you. 

Unrelated: California is currently on fire. Climate change is real.