Speaking of responsibility, I want to draw your attention to the Statue of Responsibility. The Statue of Responsibility was conceived by Viktor Frankl, three-time concentration camp survivor and author of Man's Search for Meaning. Frankl declared that freedom without responsibility is anarchy. He proposed the installation of a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast to balance the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast.
Steven Covey, the "7 Habits" guy, promised Frankl that he would make it happen. After Frankl passed, Covey asked sculptor Gary Lee Price to create a design for the Statue, and Gary's design was approved by Frankl's widow. For two decades since, Gary and the Statue of Responsibility Foundation have been trying to find a suitable and receptive location for a 305-foot version of the Statue (a smidgen shorter than the Statue of Liberty).
Frankl wanted it to be on the California coast, but California was not hospitable. A year and a half ago, Utah seemed receptive to a proposal to locate the Statue on the site of a former state prison -- even the governor strongly supported it. But then that effort was bogged down by protests and politics. Since the California fires, however, California interest in the Statue seems to have picked up, and it's entirely possible that it will end up in the San Diego area.
Last week I got to attend the unveiling of a 15-foot version of the statue at San Diego's Alliant International University, where Viktor Frankl taught for two decades. I was inspired!
