The Deciders

Who lives? Who dies? Who decides?

We do. That means I do; and you do.

That’s the provocative question and equally provocative answer that Texas State Senator Judith Zaffirini laid before the Class of 2006 at the commencement ceremony for University of Texas Law School on Saturday. My wife’s nephew was among the graduates in Austin who were challenged to consider this proposition in Senator Zaffirini’s commencement address. I don’t know how the graduates reacted to it, but it made me think.

Senator Zaffirini, a Democrat from Laredo and the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the Texas Senate, illustrated her point by referencing her work on Texas legislation involving the death penalty and AIDS-related research, concluding that laws such as those have a direct impact in determining who lives and who dies in Texas. Like the president, she’s a decider with regard to those questions. But she was quick to point out that each of the new graduates, and by logical extension everyone else in attendance, is part of the process that decides who lives and who dies – in our state, our nation and our world. It’s a sobering proposition.

When it comes to lawyers there are obvious life and death implications for those who become criminal prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges. But even in my job, in which I’m responsible for my company’s environmental compliance and worker health and safety programs, it’s certainly possible, if not probable, if not certain, that something I do, or fail to do, could play a role in determining whether someone lives or dies. I could be a decider. I may have already been a decider.

When I think more about it, it strikes me that the senator is right – essentially every one of us is part of the process that determines who lives and who dies. I suspect that most of us can rather quickly find a direct connection to that process in our employment or some other significant part of our life. It actually seems pretty difficult to identify someone who does not impact life and death determinations.

As I sit here, I can list one occupation after another that helps decide who lives and who dies – everyone involved in healthcare, including mental health professionals and lab technicians; the military and those who support the military; law enforcement; fire protection and fire fighting; drug- and alcohol-related programs; the clergy; corrections facilities; architects and engineers who design countless structures, pieces of equipment, highways, autos, trucks, planes, boats, and trains; the contractors and mechanics who then build and maintain those structures, equipment, highways, autos, trucks, planes, boats and trains; professional drivers; non-professional drivers; party chaperones and designated drivers; lifeguards; the firearms and weaponry industries; pilots and flight attendants; ship crews; security professionals; members of state and national legislative branches of government; members of the executive branch of government and its regulatory agencies; members of the judicial branch of government; investigative journalists who help to hold government accountable; everyone working in or for the United Nations; anyone connected with the handling of toxic substances, explosives, carcinogens or other dangerous materials; tobacco growers and cigarette manufacturing; utilities and other energy generating and transmission facilities; the pharmaceutical industry; water collection, storage and transmission facilities; agriculture; beef, pork and poultry industry and other food generating and distribution systems; information management and data quality professionals and technicians who provide the correct data necessary for all of these other groups to function properly; countless teachers, professors and others who impart or fail to impart life-saving or life-endangering skills.

We can’t leave out the artists, musicians, poets and writers who inspire and motivate others to do things that save or take lives. We must include people who are members of countless local, regional, national and international charitable and relief organizations, and others who donate significant amounts of money or labor to help protect and provide for people whose circumstances expose them to life and death situations. Then we add parents and other influential family members and close friends who help to set another person, young or old, on a path that leads to life or death. Where does the list end; who isn’t on the list?

Who lives? Who dies? Who decides? We do; every one of us.

We’re all responsible for the well being of one or more other people. We’re responsible for one another. Each of us matters in the matrix that connects each of us to one another. Each of us makes a meaningful difference in matters of life and death. The only question is how many lives, how many deaths.

We are all deciders. Our life makes a difference.