The Responsibility Project

Liberty Mutual

Responsibility. What’s your policy?™

Blog

Provocative articles and stories about responsibility.

Fast Food Limits: Food For Thought or Food Police?

Posted on September 4, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (2)

Should government be responsible for deciding what kinds of food you can—and cannot—eat? The city of Los Angeles recently sank its teeth into the issue by banning any new fast food restaurants. Do the new regulations serve up food for thought, or food police? Read full article »
Summer Camp: Parents Gone Wild?

Posted on September 2, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (1)

Worse than poison ivy, today’s camp parents are itching to control every aspect of their children’s daily lives at camp —the very place meant to teach independence and responsibility away from Mom and Dad. Should summer camps return to the days of no cameras, no cell phones, no parents? Read full article »
Fair Play: The Price of Victory?

Posted on August 29, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (0)

It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. But should sportsmanship be more important than winning, even at the Olympics? Yes, says the International Fair Play Committee, an organization that rewards altruistic athletes. But Fair Play has its problems: they get very few nominations and Olympic-sized questions of poor sportsmanship abound. Read full article »
Hot Seat

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (0)

Hot Seat takes us on a hilarious comic roll with the wobbly, broken, reject chair that seems to inhabit every office, clandestinely dumped from the last annoyed worker onto the next unsuspecting colleague, logging more miles than a frequent flier. Is it no one’s responsibility? Is it everyone’s? See how true office chair-ity begins in every cubicle. Read full article »
A Discussion with Hot Seat Creator, Janet Perlman

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (0)

Don’t even think about taking Janet Perlman’s chair. The Director of Hot Seat has not only been there/done that, she used the irritation of broken office chairs as inspiration for a film so clever you might fall off your seat. Read full article »
Right to Dry: Are Outdoor Clotheslines Going Extinct?

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (5)

Do you have the right to bare your laundry on an outdoor clothesline on your private property? Perhaps not, if your home is governed by a local homeowners association, many of which ban clotheslines for aesthetic reasons. Where some see an eyesore flapping in the breeze, others see an answer to an environmental question blowing in the wind. Read full article »
Going Green: Who Pays?

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (27)

Reducing your carbon footprint is the current mantra of environmental responsibility. But going green costs green, and some small businesses are now asking their customers to pay extra to help them. Where does personal responsibility end and business responsibility begin when it comes to the cost of helping the environment? Read full article »
Class Action: Laptops Not Allowed

Posted on August 14, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (8)

Laptops in school are coming unplugged. When used responsibly, they provide valuable educational support. But when used irresponsibly—for watching YouTube, surfing the web, emailing, IM-ing, playing games, checking sports scores, and shopping instead of engaging in class — laptops become the scourge of professors, some of whom are now banning them. Read full article »
Brain Doping: Is Grey Matter an Ethical Matter?

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (18)

When an athlete uses performance enhancement drugs, he or she is likely to be called unethical and dishonest. When a student or professor uses brain enhancement drugs, he or she is likely to be called smart and focused, but is chemically boosting your brain for an unfair advantage the same as chemically boosting your body for an edge? That’s the question at the center of a new debate about drugs and cheating. Read full article »
Who Let the Dogs Out: Fetching Medicine?

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Kathy McManus Comments (7)

Fido has a new medicine chest, and it includes medications that were originally developed for humans. Prescription drugs can now treat canine obesity and depression. But those break-throughs have left some people wondering if pets are mimicking their owners’ behavioral and lifestyle problems, and if the drugs might be more for the convenience of owners than for the heath of their pets. Read full article »