Resolutions: Blame Some Mutant Gene?
The Dallas Morning News
Feb. 5, 2000

Golden Pen Award The following letter from Bob McTeer has won The Dallas Morning News' Golden Pen Award for January. Mr. McTeer's letter appeared January 10. Letters are chosen for clarity and writing style and not for viewpoint. —The Dallas Morning News

Texas picker-poet Billy Joe Shaver, in his song Black Rose, says the devil made him do it the first time, but the second time he did it on his own. I'm not sure what he did, but I know what he means.

Billy Joe Shakespeare—not from Texas—comes off more hard-nosed. Anticipating Dr. Laura and Judge Judy, he had Caesar tell Brutus the fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves. I'm reminded of the self-made man, who thereby absolves the Lord of a lot of blame.

Who is responsible for us anyway? The Lord? The devil? Do we have a say? Normally, I leave such questions to deeper thinkers, but who's normal just after the holidays?

Nowadays, genetic research is letting us off the hook. We're told our genes are responsible; our tendencies are built in. Not just physical traits and vulnerabilities but personality as well. The devil is in our genes.

Now I know why my New Year's resolutions fail. I try, but I'm hard-wired. I've lost the same 10 pounds 47 times in the past 30 years. Hey, it's not my fault. It's just my nature, as they say back home.

But what I don't get is this: If we are puppets whose strings are pulled by evolutionary forces of past millennia, and if our species, like others, is programmed primarily for survival and procreation, how did we arrive at our present state? Looks to me like we overshot. Otherwise, we'd be spending more time hanging around the water hole, with frequent visits to the salt lick and the fuzzy tree. What mutant gene led us to create offices, neckties, high heels and New Year's resolutions?

I think the devil made us do it the first time.

About the Author Bob McTeer is president and CEO at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.