Statue of Responsibility

The Statue of Responsibility is a proposed national monument structure to be built on the West Coast of the United States. The prototype, sculpted by project artist Gary Lee Price, consists of a pair of clasped hands oriented vertically, symbolizing many things but primarily the responsibility that comes with liberty.

The Statue of Responsibility was suggested first by scholar Viktor Frankl in his book Man's Search for Meaning. He recommended "that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast should be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast." He wrote: "Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness."[1][2]

Plans

The project started out being managed by the Statue of Responsibility Foundation until 2013. The project had progressed slowly under the original Statue of Responsibility Foundation, but in 2010, the Utah state legislature unanimously declared their support for the project and declared Utah (sculptor Price's home state) the Birthplace of the Statue of Responsibility. In 2013 the new leadership took over the project and new funding efforts are underway by the non-profit Responsibility Foundation.

The statue foundation would like to build it in one of five host cities: Long Beach, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco (California) or Seattle (Washington). [3]

The Foundation intends to incorporate following elements of the Statue of Liberty into the Statue of Responsibility.

References

  1. Frankl, Viktor Emil (1956) Man's Search for Meaning, p. 209-210.
  2. Warnock, C. (2005) "Statue of Responsibility," Daily Herald. Retrieved, July 8, 2009.
  3. Rodriguez, Ashlie. (26 August 2010). "300 foot tall statue in San Diego's future?". Sign On San Diego. Accessed 3 September 2011.

External links