McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast-food restaurant, was sued in 2003 in a class-action lawsuit stating that McDonald’s is making kids obese, and the legal guardians of the kids had no idea.

The class-action suit came about after a federal court threw out a previous lawsuit that was too broad. Apparently the plaintiff hadn’t seen Super Size Me.

The Western world has made its citizenry into something of a laughingstock.

Or maybe the citizenry has done that by itself.

The world and all of its advances has made the people of the West, by majority, rich among world standards. And from this prosperity comes a skewed sense of entitlement.

People today are losing and refusing the ability to accept the consequences of their actions. It’s happening in the court rooms, in government and even here, at BYU-Idaho.

In 1999 the FDA approved a contraceptive called the “plan B” pill which, when taken within 72 hours of having unprotected sex, impregnation is diverted up to 89 percent of the time.

This new drug, a more concentrated version of a standard birth control pill, makes one of the consequences of sex—childbirth ­—avoidable. Therefore, instead of making an intelligent decision based on what their actions could cause, people in the medical and governmental worlds have found a way to continue those actions by sidestepping the acceptance of responsibility.

As most would expect, politicians often find themselves in this sort of discussion. The Bush Administration, until recently, dodged allegations of misguided tactics and its handling of the war in Iraq. Since the war began, Democrats and republicans have been taking cheap shots at one another for the dreary state of affairs in Iraq. Most notable examples have come during the presidential election of 2004 and the most recent mid term elections.

A beacon of responsibility is shining, though. During a recent trip to Kansas State University, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld conceded that the war in Iraq is, “unfamiliar and not completely understood, even today….The military is equipped for a conventional war, not an asymmetrical one [like the war in Iraq].”

As the plague of pushing aside responsibility continues across the land, know that BYU-I students are no exception.

Heard across campus and in classrooms are students’ complaints that teachers are merciless, unforgiving and mean, simply because they stick to what their class syllabi state. Students seem to think that because their nights and weekends are full of playing Halo 2 or going to the movies instead of studying, their professors should roll over for them—essentially rewarding their immature behavior and repressing the responsibility.

Students tend to complain to other students more than to the teachers themselves, though. This is a way to keep some of the power professors can take away, being authoritative figures, said Nathan Meeker, professor in the Sociology Department.

“Students don’t come to complain to me much. They don’t generally blame me personally, either. I think that they complain to each other about why they didn’t do well, and that’s when they have an opportunity to shift some of their responsibilities onto me,” Meeker said.

Students, though unwilling to take responsibility themselves, don’t generally place blame on teachers. They do, however, blame sickness, school trips, priesthood advancements and even “misinterpreted” or tricky questions on quizzes and exams, Meeker said.

Tate Carter, a professor in the Biology Department, confirms that though students don’t often blame him, it is something that happens. One student of his was on track for an athletic scholarship back in the Ricks College days but had missed more than half of the required labs. “It was very difficult for me as a new teacher [to tell him he couldn’t get a pass].”

“I don’t have students blame me very often, and if they do, I remind them that there are X number of students who did it correctly or on time. That usually reminds them where the responsibility lies,” Carter said.

The situation is disheartening right now. Society not only makes excuses for what should be consequential, it is encouraging people to do so. And, apparently, BYU-I students are not immune. If this world is going to go anywhere, natural consequences for bad actions must be observed, not brushed under the rug.