On Hiding Behind Others

THERE is a common phrase that is descriptive of one of the most prevalent practices of humankind. In the unbecoming vernacular, we call it “passing the buck.” It is an old and much-cultivated technique, by which many a man has shrugged off many an unpleasant duty. Frequently it involves shifting work to others which we ourselves should be doing, but more often it involves shifting responsibility to others which we ourselves should be assuming. Sometimes it is accomplished by procrastination, sometimes by direct refusal to face an issue, but more often it is done by an oblique shifting to other shoulders. Men are especially anxious to shift responsibility where controversy is involved. Often to decide an issue in favor of one person means to decide against another. And often to decide an issue at all means inconvenience and unpleasantness. And so, both in public and private life, we use all manner of devices and hide behind all manner of fronts in order to do or to say something which it is our responsibility to do or to say, while making it seem to come from some source quite beyond ourselves. There are those who hide behind their wives, those who hide behind their secretaries or their business partners, and those who readily grant favors in their own name, but who deny favors in the name of their board of directors. We also find those who hide behind the high-sounding names of conveniently-created organizations set up to do a job that someone wants done but doesn’t want to seem to be doing. We have seen many such false fronts in our day, often with impressive titles. It all reminds us of Mr. Smallweed, the Dickens’ Bleak House character, who was quick to foreclose the delinquent mortgage in the name of his non-existent partner, his fictional “friend,” whom he habitually blamed for his own hard dealings. Historically, perhaps the best remembered example of attempting to shift responsibility was Pilate washing his hands before the multitude and saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person.” But there is nothing in which a man can wash his hands that will cleanse them from a moral responsibility. It is often necessary and desirable to have spokesmen and advisers, and it is often possible to relieve ourselves of a legal responsibility, but, when a moral responsibility is ours, there is no false front we can hide behind that will shield us from a moral obligation.