"not part of the solution . . ."

Posted by R. Berg on September 13, 2001

In Reply to: "If your not part of the solution, your part of the problem." posted by Natalia on September 13, 2001

: What does this saying mean:

: "If your not part of the solution, your part of the problem."

: Thanks!

First of all, "your" should be "you're," both times, because it's short for "you are." The saying is a way of encouraging people to pay attention to societal problems and do something to solve them--like "Walk your talk" and its variants, discussed recently on this forum. Put another way, it's an effort to make people feel guilty for not doing anything. The idea is that each individual can be a good citizen or a bad citizen; there is no middle course.

• If you're not part... ESC 09/13/01