The new White House campaign “It’s on us” reminds us that all of the members of society need to take personal responsibility and get involved in promoting the public welfare, particularly in terms of reducing sexual assault and increasing bystander intervention. “Us” means everyone. That includes those that think that “Us” is “Them”. “Us” includes “You” too.
- It’s on you to not perpetuate gender stereotypes while fighting against gender bias.
- It’s on you to investigate complex social problems thoroughly before promoting simplistic solutions.
- It’s on you to not use misinformation while debunking myths and misunderstandings.
- It’s on you to be a responsible individual while demanding that other people be responsible.
- It’s on you to evaluate the consequences of your own behavior while focusing on the consequences of other people’s behavior.
- It’s on you to be respectful to other people while demanding that you be respected.
- It’s on you to accept the burden of responsibility that comes with equality when demanding equality.
- It’s on you to acknowledge your own “privilege” while complaining about other people’s “privilege”.
- It’s on you to call out and curtail the bad behavior of members of your own cause as well as the bad behaviors of those who oppose your cause.
- It’s on you to have a basic level of competency with insuring you own well-being while expecting that other people insure your well-being.
- It’s on you to not be guided and controlled by fear and emotion, but by sound judgment and critical thinking.
- It’s on you to be your own primary caretaker, and to realize that other people are also their own primary caretaker first and your caretaker second.
- It’s on you to investigate the accuracy and validity of the statistics and data you use to promote your cause.
- It’s on you to consider alternate viewpoints and evaluate differing problem solving methodologies even if they appear to conflict with your ideological viewpoint.
- It’s on you to consider the impact of your own emotions and bias on your ability to draw unbiased conclusions from studies, statistics, and data.
- It’s on you to have a workable method to deal with interpersonal conflict and to not use a methods based on emotion, media sound bites, and agenda driven advocacy.
- It’s on you to acknowledge that a “culture” is made up of the attitudes, norms, and behaviors of the majority of people in the culture and that changing a culture requires the participation of the majority, not just of one group, class or gender.
- It’s on you to focus less on the politics of blame and more on finding effective solutions that actually decrease the problem you want to solve.
“Us” is “You”.