Not so Liberal?

I really thought I was a bleeding heart.  As liberal as one can be. Don't believe in the death penalty (heck, if killing someone is wrong, it should be doubly wrong for a state to kill someone), think people deserve and second and even a third chance (except for stupid, irrational men), that everyone has a basic right to good education and health care, that we all have a responsibility to do right by others, etc. etc.

But reading some of these cases, I'm beginning to questions myself. Seriously. For example,  a guy leaves his keys in the ignition while goes into a bank. A third person steals said car. The thief drove down the interstate and a high speed chase ensues. The thief ends up hitting another car with a pregnant women who died (the fetus was viable and delivered before her death).

The guy who left the keys in the car can be found negligent to the people who died because he left his keys in the car and it was foreseeable that someone would have stolen the car and caused harm.

Part of me goes, "Really? Like, really?"Who what a stretch. As liberal as I am, I'm not sure I could say that the original owner of the car really was negligent to the pregnant lady, as much as I think her family does deserve compensation.

Not that I'm saying in anyway that the lady had some part in this accident, she was completely innocent, but in reading these cases I feel that somewhere in our society we have lost the idea of personal responsibility yet retained the idea of individuality. We don't want government in our lives and don't want them putting restrictions on us (unless, somehow, it relates to women and abortions and gays and sex, or black and freedom.). We want to act like we are responsible for ourselves and it doesn't matter what we do. Heck, we are free people. It's doesn't take a village - just me.

Yet, when something bad happens, it's everyone else's fault except mine. This person didn't warn me, that person didn't stop me, those people should have told me what was going on, the labels were to small to read, the trainings where too long and I got bored and so I didn't get all the information.  When something bad happens, all of the sudden we do live in a village and everyone's actions do have an affect on us.

Of course, I guess I'm just as hypocritical on the other side. I believe in the village concept, but also in taking responsibility for your own actions. This whole concept of personal responsibility does make me feel VERY conservative.  I wonder, do I then take on more personal responsibility for things than I should?  Maybe I should stop caring about how my actions affect (effect? Someone help remind me of the difference. I'm too lazy to check grammar girl) others.

I hope I'm not a real conservative underneath all of this. If you find me changing colors (political, not literally - my hair is allowed to undergo transformations) please help me come to my senses. Please.