Everyone has responsibilities. Unfortunately, not everyone is responsible.

Everyone should be accountable. Again, not everyone is accountable.

Everyone has made mistakes. Still, there are critical elements of the human experience today that more than suggest how much more prevalent it is that individuals shirk responsibilities and avoid accountability for themselves and others every day.

When such self-centeredness takes root, a person of character is not likely to bloom.

Responsibility is endless. It doesn’t matter whether you are young or old, rich or poor, whether you are a parent, teacher, plumber, or president. What really matters is: Are you a responsible individual? More specifically, do you understand and accept your responsibilities? Do you do so willingly? Because if you do accept your responsibilities willingly, then you will do whatever may be necessary to develop your personal abilities and the wherewithal to fulfill each and every one of your responsibilities. This responsibility principle applies for everyone, no one is exempted. No exceptions. No excuses.

Here’s a basic and powerful example: When a man and woman are blessed with a child, both individuals are now parents with new, additional responsibilities. When the child is born into and grows up in a happy home with married parents, each parent has a parental helpmate to share in the responsibility for the child. And the child has the benefit of having both a mom and a dad.

However, when a child is born to a single mother, no matter how loving and caring the woman may be throughout the child-raising years the father, at least, has failed his responsibility. That male’s failure has costs. And we all bear those costs as individuals, as a society and as a culture over years and generations.

We bear the costs of irresponsibility every day. And, those costs are aggregate and cumulative. They include the very real human costs and the cultural affects of welfare, the cycle of dependency, higher rates of delinquency, sexual activity, drug use-abuse-treatment programs, etc. These costs, among others, affect everyone.

Another equally real cost of irresponsibility is the tax burden placed on the shoulders of only the productive members of society by those politicians who refuse to faithfully fulfill their responsibilities equitably to every citizen.

How does this happen? What are the likely seeds of these problems? And why has it increased over the years? We would need much more space to discuss all of the possible reasons. So, let’s discuss just one. Perhaps, you will conclude it to be the most important. “It’s not cheating if you don’t get caught.” This attitude has variations, including “I can spin it. Is there evidence? I can stonewall.”

Here are examples, both classic and recent:

A teenager takes answers from another student. “It’s not cheating if you don’t get caught.”

A driver hits a parked car and leaves the scene. “Why take responsibility for something no one saw you do?”

A senator lies when first asked why he changed his amendment to the stimulus legislation permitting top AIG executives to get bonuses. “Why ‘fess up. I can spin and stonewall the people … as I did with my two special reduced-rate mortgages being a ‘friend’ of Angelo.”

A treasury secretary, who failed to report or pay payroll taxes, is confirmed anyway. His political sponsors insist he is needed to fix the economic mess.

Under continued probing, the senator admits he changed his own amendment, because the new treasury secretary (the one needed to fix the economic mess) asked him to change it.” The change provides bonuses to AIG and others from taxpayer-funded bailout money. After railing against the bonuses, the president announces he has total confidence in his treasury secretary; and that he is doing a great job.

Here’s a quick three-step exercise:

First, review the above scenarios; jot down whatever descriptor, a word or phrase, you think applies to each.

Second, review the words or phrases you recorded. As a whole, do your descriptors clearly define one or more principles of responsibility?

Lastly, for each, how would you — as a parent, family member, stakeholder in our society and as a citizen — responsibly hold yourself and all others accountable?

Concerned and willing individuals can raise the bar of responsibility by focusing on and pumping up accountability in every institution, venue and arena of our society.

I welcome your thoughts, observations and the results of your personal exercise.

Richard Olivastro is a professional member of the National Speakers Association, president of Olivastro Communications and founder of Citizens For Change. He can be reached at Rich@Olivastro.NET or 877.RichSpeaks.