Why the name "Buck Stops here"

President Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that read "The Buck Stops Here". He displayed it prominently to send a message that he will stand up and be accountable for his actions and will not "pass the buck" to somebody else since he was elected as the President of United States to take action and not point fingers. Indeed while he was much maligned during his presidency, he was respected in more recent years for his character for taking hard but unpopular decisions, such as firing the WWII hero, General MacArthur.

An unintended consequence of that sign may have been to send a message to the rest of us that "It is OK to pass on the buck, point fingers at others and not be held responsible for our actions or their consequences". Lately I have started wondering if we (that definitely includes myself) have become a society of "buck passers". In any debate or discussion (sub prime mortgage, global warming, education, health care...) any and every group argues vehemently as to how it is "the mortgage brokers, Wall Street financiers, Chinese/Indians, Teacher's Union, greedy insurance companies and big pharmaceutical companies...." that are screwing it up for them, the poor innocent victims of these evil forces. They conveniently forget the common dictum "When you are pointing one finger at somebody, three fingers are pointed at you".

Hence the title of my BLOG!


I started wondering:


"What if we as a society and I as an individual started wearing a button that said The Buck Stops Here and started taking personal responsibility for every action and engagement in our day-to-day life?"


I know, everybody will say that I am being naive and that I am suggesting something that is against fundamental human nature. May be so. But I will end the inaugural BLOG entry with a story.

PFC Jessica Ellis joined the army as a medic out of community college. Her mother Linda was Chanda's best friend during their gruelling two-year MS Nursing course in 1996. So we knew Jessica as a young girl. In 2007, she was posted in Iraq. Sometime in early May 2008, the convoy that she was travelling with was hit by a road side bomb. Fortunately nobody was hurt badly and Jessica escaped with some cuts and bruises. Two weeks later her unit was going out on a patrol again and her CO told her that she did not have to go but can work in the clinic at the base that day. Jessica said "I can't let my buddies go without their medic". On that patrol the Buffalo (a heavily armored vehicle) that she was riding in was hit by a particularly vicious road side bomb. Jessica was the only person in the vehicle who was killed on that Mother's Day in 2008. She was 24 years old.


I can only speculate that Jessica was not motivated by "Bringing Freedom and Democracy to Iraq" not was she driven by the "adrenalin rush caused by action". She simply refused to duck her responsibilities and chose to stand by her buddies and her commitment.