What Has Happened To Us?

I drove from Baltimore to Camden, NJ and back today and had a lot of time and inspiration to wonder why there are so many peabrains, pinheads and aholes in the world and how we're come to accept it as ok.

These are all things I experience first hand today.

Lets start with drivers, those who think that stop signs, solid lines, speed limits, right on red after stop, keep right expect to pass, cell phone and other LAWS are simply "suggestions", applicable only to others.

People who force others to endure screaming and otherwise misbehaving children in public places, specifically restaurants.

All the talking heads in various media who spew lies, distorted half-truths and propaganda for the sole purpose of lining their pockets.

The sorry slugs who listen to and believe said talking heads because they are incapable of having a single original thought.

Workers who think "good enough" is good enough.

People who think it's their right to accost me and invade my space by begging for my money at stop lights with their sob-story signs.

People with no regard for the property of others, demonstrated by someone opening a car door, hitting another car and then making absolutely no effort to determine if any damage was done.

An obviously entitled person parking in front of the auto parts store directly under a "No Parking - Fire Lane" sign.

What the hell has happened to us that this type of behavior has not only become so commonplace that no one seems to notice but is actually considered acceptable? Any attempt to point out the antisocial and morally reprehensible nature of these transgressions is most often met with a belligerent and sometimes violent reaction, as if the problem is with the observer rather than a sociopath failure on the part of the transgressor.

Has society really deteriorated to the degree that there's no hope for a return to civilized behavior being the norm? I'm not holding out much hope but i feel better now.

 

either society will endure, or it will collapse and the strong/smart will survive.

I suppose it's not that far fetched to think that we're about due for a societal collapse to 'Darwinise' the gene pool.

 

Disregarding the third line, which seems to imply (via the capitalization of laws) that laws are inviolable holy writs (as if a government could be infallible), my answer to the final question would be, "No, but we are close to collapse."

 

I can't remember who said this: "America will cease to be great when she ceases to be good".

Moral character has become an object of mockery during my adult life. Marriage, honesty, ethics, loyalty, integrity, decency.... All get trashed in the media, our schools, etc.

This was a godly nation once.

 

Respect. Nobody gives it. Nobody gets it. Move on.

 

I guess this is what is was getting at, though I don't think a belief in a deity is necessarily a prerequisite for moral behavior. I just can't fathom how/why we've allowed this to happen and that bothers me.

 

It's all the media's fault..

 

^^^ a lot of truth to this. Shame on us, though, for allowing it. The cheap thrills of a wide open, anything goes society cause a serious hangover. I think a past example could be the roaring 20's followed by the depression and WWII. Hopefully that's not in our future. Not sure we could recover this time.

 

Back when slavery was legal, no doubt.

 

But unless you believe there's some underlying conspiracy bent on manipulating behavior for some unknown purpose, the media is only providing what the public wants, making it more an effect than a cause.

What does seem to be missing is shame. No one seems to feel it anymore, for anything.

 

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

I try to go out of my way to give respect where it's due.

 

What the media does is Project a sense of No Limits, by that I mean, anything pretty much goes. Language for example. I've seen some movies where F bombs are dropped for no reason than because the Media seems to think it's Cool for kids, and people in general to swear like drunken sailors, no offense to the Navy folks here.. Kids pick up on that, and do the same.

Often, bad deeds are rewarded, get convicted of drug use, drunk driving, and the next thing you know, those people have Major motion picture roles with huge contracts, or they pose for playboy..

So bad behavior is something the media projects as a good thing far to often, the old days when the hero was a person who Respected others, and did the Right thing for the good of all, is long gone imho, although it's been years since I've paid to go to a movie, however there's enough of it on TV.

That's one major thing that's missing these days in to many people in the public eye, respect for others, that and the mouth breathers that are allowed to multiply. I won't even get into sport figures, and they way they brawl, cuz you dis'd me type of thing, it's fight, or shoot first, then ask questions. Not saying all are like that, but there are far to many. I dunno, maybe off base here..?

 

[rant on]

It's not the media.
It has nothing to do with God.

It's us.
My generation (those of us who are now becoming grandparents) failed.

We told our kids that they were great, no matter what.
We didn't require them to do anything well, just 'adequately'
We never let them fail.
We didn't take responsibility for raising our kids. We were too busy pursuing our careers, dreams, and wants. We left education to schools and morals and ethics to TV and the streets. We decided that if someone else could cut corners, then we could, too. We said we deserved this or that (pick your material possession or privilege of choice).

We stopped giving a shit about anyone else but ourselves. We stopped caring about our community, neighbors, or anything that doesn't have an immediate payback or gratification. We are unwilling to forgo anything now for something better later.

We taught all of that to our kids, who now have kids.

Our kids are worse at these faults than we are.

Here in the US, we have dumbed everything down to the point that a cup of coffee says "caution, HOT" so we don't forget. We sue at any opportunity, rather than accept responsibility for our own actions and their consequences. We don't want to read the manual, but want the store to replace it when we break it because we didn't know what we were doing. We gave up manufacturing. We stopped requiring excellence in our schools (this is the parents fault!). And we are slipping in the world.

It's not the others who are our own worst enemy. It's us.

Like someone said, either you are part of the solution, or part of the problem. Which are you? Strive to be a better person each day, not because anyone is watching, but because you know you can.

It's in each of our hands to make this a better country. And it's not just about voting. It's about your everyday actions & how you treat others.

[/rant off]

 

You should see the look on the faces of teenagers / twenty-somethings when I see them litter and ask them to pick it up and put it in the trash bin 10 feet from them.

At first they think I'm joking. Then when I make it clear I'm not, they comply.

They probably call me names as they continue down the street. Who cares?
At least someone told them once that trashing the neighborhood isn't acceptable.

The interesting thing is that most people will do what's expected of them. We just have collectively abdicated our responsibility to expect better.

 

A few years ago, I took my wife and 15 year old daughter and one of her friends to a family restaurant. The two girls started conversing, and it went something like this:
SO, I'M FUCKING TALKING TO FUCKING BOBBY AND THAT FUCKING ASSHOLE TELLS ME HE WAS FUCKING GOING OUT WITH FUCKING CHELSEA, THAT FUCKING BITCH.
YEAH, I CAN'T STAND THAT FUCKING BITCH EITHER, SHE'S A FUCKING WHORE!
You could have heard them on the other side of the restaurant. At that point, I read them the riot act in an equally loud voice, pointing out that there were families with children sitting around us who didn't need to hear their ignorant language. You should have seen the looks on their faces, they couldn't believe that I would embarrass them in front of the other diners. I thought they were going to cry. They didn't speak to me for the rest of the meal. They just had no clue that that wasn't acceptable behavior in a restaurant.
That was how they talked when they were with their friends, so they just carried on as usual.

 

Its a failure that a 15 year old would think its ok to curse in front of an adult to start with. Ive never cursed in front of my parents and Im mid 30's.

 

Rant away sir. You're completely right. Kids today (and for the most part, the people that raised them) don't have the sense of self-responsibility that previous generations had. Everything is given to them, they've never faced hardship, adversity, or been really challenged. These are the people that got trophies just for participating, that were always told "good job" no matter what. They don't know what 110% is and don't care.

I hate to say it but my step-daughter is a perfect example. I have busted my ass to teach this kid how to be a good person by making her deal with the consequences of her actions, good or bad, but the lessons she's learned from her schools, peers, grandparents, and (up until recently) her mother have been much stronger.

Her answer to any type of adversity is to just give up. If the test is too hard, make it easier. If we're walking/running too fast, slow down. If the coach yells at you for doing something wrong, quit. If the grass is too tall and you don't want to push the mower through it, say you're sick. If you don't want to get up early, turn off the alarm clock and "pretend" you didn't hear it. I could go on for days with the bullshit I've got from this kid but the point is, for nearly 14 years, this kid has never had to put forth any real effort in order to get a reward. And in the rare case that she is forced to work at something, it's so ingrained into her that she shouldn't that she demonizes whatever/whoever she feels is responsible for it.

People just don't take any responsibility for themselves. I was always taught to look in the mirror first. If something is wrong, "what could I have done differently?" is the first thing that I look at. Once I've exhausted every possibility, then I'll start looking at outside factors. Hell, I take responsibility for stuff that I know wasn't my fault all the time just because I know I'm strong enough to deal with it and resolve the situation. When faced with anything like this, most people just start pointing the finger, trying to find anything to blame their problems on except themselves, and it all comes back to never having to work for anything. If they'd been taught that you didn't get that trophy because you didn't try as hard as the person that beat you, then they'd understand.

 

Liberalism happened.......don't believe me?

Just look at the towns/cities it has infected already.

 

Maybe it's the fact that, especially in the large cities, people are constantly surrounded by so many other people that they no longer see those people as individuals. You can be among hundreds of others, yet you feel alone. Feeling solitary breeds indifference.

I'm from a small town in West Texas where everybody most likely knows everybody else so as you drive along the roads, and meet someone going the other way, each person raises a hand to acknowledge the other. If you did that in a large city you would be driving along with your hand raised all the time. When you pull up to a stop sign, and someone else pulls up the intersection at the same time, you just naturally indicate to the other person to go first even if you're the one that has the right of way.

I started an experiment a few years ago. I live in a rural area between Fort Worth and Weatherford Texas. I pretty well see the same individuals several times each week on these rural roads so I picked up my old habit of raising my hand and waving at my fellow drivers. For a few weeks no one waved back. Now, after three or four years of this, all of them wave now. Did I cause this? I don't know but it's nice to see anyway. They may still drive like bats out of hell when they get into town but at least here they're very pleasant to deal with.

The tendency to not be friendly isn't intended to be deliberate in most cases, just practical.

 

Well said.