The Buck Stops Here

The year is 1945. For six long, grueling years, the world has been at war. Blood has been spilled across the plains of Africa, the oceans of Asia, and the lands of Europe. Americans, Europeans, Africans, and Asians alike are ready for this disaster to be finished. Much action has been taken to stop the war, but nothing has yet succeeded. America’s president has just died, and the nation suddenly is thrust under the power of a new leader: President Harry S. Truman. For this one man, the pressure is on. All eyes are fixed on him. What will he do? Will he be the deciding point in the war, or will he pass the baton to someone else to fix the world’s problems? His answer to all this, though, is quite simple and decided: The buck stops here.

The war ended that year, and a reconstruction of the world was underway. But, Truman left a clear message ringing in the hearts and minds of his citizens: shrinking away from responsibility, or “passing the buck,” will get an individual, and certainly an entire nation, nowhere in the end. But taking responsibility, and allowing the buck to stop here, right now, can actually make a difference. The buck stops here. If it stops here, it must stop with me. I must take responsibility. 

 In the Victorian novel Ishmael, a young, illegitimate child, being raised by his heartless aunt, has for his future what is certain to be a destitute life. As the boy grows up, he is gradually made aware of his situation, a situation in which it would be easy, and perhaps even appropriate, to blame his parents and his aunt for his hopelessness. Yet, Ishmael chooses to rise above this state of self-pity, taking responsibility for what he is able, and resolving to take the responsibility for his future. Ishmael ends up, simply by taking this responsibility, finishing top of the class at an elite school, and becoming a nationally renowned lawyer. Still, though, he takes responsibility. One of his wealthy friends, however, who had everything in store for her future, finds herself destitute on account of not taking responsibility. Clearly, taking responsibility is the best option. I must take responsibility for my circumstances and actions.The buck stops here.

Meridian