These days everybody wants to “hear from me”. They are eager to empower me. They want to know what I like and dislike. Suddenly empowering others has become the easiest way to avoid responsibility and accountability in your chosen profession.

Personally I don’t want to be empowered in areas where I am the least likely to succeed. I would very much prefer that those who were elected and/or paid to take responsibility would do so.

Before we go on, a short message to my old readers: As you can see, I’m back to blogging again. When crazy and nasty became the new normal by courtesy of Donald Trump, I had to take a timeout. I felt uncomfortable in my nastyoldlady persona; a the persona that was inspired by Donald Trump dubbing Hillary Clinton a nasty old lady.

Seriously, who in their right mind is inspired by Donald Trump? Hence I have changed my domain to niceoldlady.com. There is no need to add to the nasty in this world.

Back to my theme of the day: Liking as a way of life.

Most of us cherish the right to make our own decisions regarding matters that concern us. But there is a time and a place for everything. Let’s start with a cautionary tale to illustrate my meaning.

A few years ago I managed to puncture a lung, crack a few ribs and tear two knee ligaments. There I was, lying immobilised in the emergency ward of one of Helsinki’s top notch public hospitals. My surroundings felt anything but safe and friendly. The gentlemen (I use the term very lightly) occupying the neighbouring beds seemed to have stepped right out of a “Hell’s Angels Meet The Russian Mafia” movie.

The bedside manner of their visitors left much to be desired too. Loud and scary promises of violent retribution were made to the roommate on my right (the one sporting a potentially life-threatening knife wound). It took me a while to realise that said retribution was to be on his behalf – not to him,  which would have been far too close for comfort.

Things went from bad to worse when the doctor on duty arrived. The good news was that my lung and my ribs would heal pretty much on their own as long as some simple precautions were taken. The bad news was that my knee was a mess. They could either operate or just put my leg in a cast and hope for the best, the doctor explained. There was no guarantee as to the outcome either way.

The doctors approach reminded me of a waiter going through the daily specials and asking for my order. The choice was mine, what would I like? While good waiters are known to make recommendations, the doctor saw no need to do so when asked.

I am not indecisive by nature. I know whether I want tea or coffee at any given time. I can even decide whether to buy or sell a corporation if need be. Unsurprisingly, however, I felt totally unqualified to decide whether to have my knee operated or not.

The fact that I preferred to spend as little time as possible lying immobilised in mixed company became a key decision-making factor, when I finally opted for a cast; a decision that would get me out of the hospital as quickly as possible.

It may well have been the right decision, time will show. But it was not made for the right reasons. More importantly,  I should never have been asked to make that decision. It was a decision my doctor was trained and paid to make.

In a democracy people get to decide on a wide range of matters, be it healthcare, taxation, foreign alliances, climate change, or whatever. They do so by voting for their political representatives in the hope that the latters’ expertise will ensure a positive outcome.

More and more these representatives bounce the decision-making right back at their voters. It’s the case of the above-mentioned doctor all over again. To avoid responsibility and accountability, every issue is “polled” on social media and actions are taken – or not taken –  for all the wrong reasons.

Businesses are well on their way to being run by each and everyone of us too. Whether we know what we are doing or not, we are “empowered” to make decisions. As there are so many of us, nobody stays in charge and nobody is accountable. Least of all the leaders we “liked” into office.

On and on we go in circles. Liking and disliking freely. Living the dream that is well on its way to morphing into a nightmare. No sane person would seek to lead a group like us.