Taking Responsibility Self-reliance and the Accountable Life

"In Taking Responsibility Branden delineates four goals: to illuminate the meaning and implications of self-responsibility as a way of living and of being in the world; to show that this practice is not an onerous burden but a source of joy and personal power; to establish that we create ourselves - shape our identity - through what we are willing to take responsibility for; and to demonstrate that self-responsibility, self-reliance, and individualism are essential to the well-being of our society." "Whether our goals concern career issues or love relationships, we need to understand how intimately success and happiness are tied to self-responsibility. We need to know what is up to us and what is not up to us. We need to understand that independence begins with the act of thinking - of choosing to look at the world through our own eyes - and of consciously choosing the values that will guide us, rather than uncritically accepting them from others." "The issue of self-responsibility, Branden shows, has acquired a new urgency in the modern world, in which mind work has replaced muscle work; authoritarian, hierarchical structures are giving way to more open, communicative structures; and cognitive skills are of paramount importance. Today's world needs men and women who are able and willing to think, to be self-directing and self-managing, to respond to problems proactively rather than passively waiting for someone else to "do something," to be initiators and innovators. In Taking Responsibility - Branden's most intellectually exciting work - he demonstrates not only the personal and social importance of self-reliance but the specific steps by which it may be achieved."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved