About this quote

We love to complain about corrupt leaders as if they dropped from the sky. The uncomfortable truth is that we put them there ourselves. Every broken institution is sustained by the quiet, lazy decisions of regular citizens. Do you actually research your choices, or do you just go with what is comfortable? True accountability starts when we stop playing the victim and admit our own role in the mess.

When to use it

• Your colleagues elect the laziest person in the office to run the social committee and then complain about the boring events. 'We can't act surprised by these terrible parties when we are the ones who put Dave in charge.'
• A local soccer club struggles after appointing a notoriously chaotic parent to manage the schedule. 'He lost his car keys twice last week, but we still voted him in as league organizer.'
• Students electing the most charming but unreliable classmate to lead their final presentation. 'We wanted a leader with charisma, but now we have no slides and the project is due tomorrow.'