There are many people who believe in a kind of determinist universe -- "what God wants," "the will of God," "what Jesus wants from us," etc. I am not such a person. I believe in free will, as a human right and privilege -- given, perhaps by God, perhaps by nature, or Karma, or luck, or chaos.
Free will means that we are responsible. Philip Seymour Hoffman overdoses on heroin -- who is at fault. First and foremost, he is. Second, those who knew he was in trouble with heroin and failed to intercede (because that is a duty we owe to each other). Third, his business associates, who for personal gain or stability, refused to question the man they worked for or with.
The death of Philip Seymour Hoffman is a tragedy -- talent wasted, a family with its children broken, a culture -- cracked by its own self-indulgence. The fact that we can't or won't do something to help those who need it is the real tragedy in each of our lives.
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