individual responsibility

I had an “interesting” experience on a bus recently. It was very much a wake up call about the ways in which racism is (more) prevalent in Australia, to which I have recently returned, compared to Canada. I was one of close to two dozen people who hopped on the bus at a university campus, adding to the one or two people who were on it. It was an mid-evening service, after most classes had ceased. Before the bus had left the stop, a person who was already on the bus exclaimed very loudly something along the lines of “why don’t you shut up you stupid Asians?” (there may have been expletives or other derogatory terms).

One thing that disappoints me very much is when those who consider themselves progressive do not live their politics. They act explicitly counter to their expressed ideals, often directly harming those around them. On the weekend, I stopped by an anarchist book store to pick up some books for my upcoming travels. The volunteers staffing the store had trouble providing the correct change as one of the volunteers had absconded with the takings. Analogous to this, a friend has been subjected to, and disrespected by, the actions of self-identified progressive male. Unfortunately, it continues (and is getting worse). Why does it seem that men are still perpetuating such self-absorbed bullshit?

We all go though life having many experiences that are, to varying degrees, beyond our control. Different political persuasions often have different takes on how we should understand, consider, reflect on and tackle such situations. A lot of rhetoric is thrown around, from many of these perspectives, at contrasting ideas, opinions or ideologies. Radical and leftist perspectives often try to expose and understand the structural basis of the, mostly negative, implications of circumstances that remove ones control over their own lives. Similar can be said of some libertarian perspectives, even some neoconservatives. A question worth reflecting on is how much emphasis should we place on such structural factors, and when can this lead to not being able to see the trees for the forest?