The general decline in standards today

[Feraud]

Yep, I agree these things move in cycles. A cursory reading of history proves this out.
I hope this new economy will be the kick in the pants to the next generation and help them see how their parents lust for bigger, better, more, more, and cheaper is a destructive economic/moral model.

 

[jamespowers]

Depends on how you define the next generation. If that means people in their 20's or teens, forget it! Lol

Definitely not those that age. lol lol I was thinking more of the age 6 and below crowd coming up.

 

[jamespowers]

Yep, I agree these things move in cycles. A cursory reading of history proves this out.
I hope this new economy will be the kick in the pants to the next generation and help them see how their parents lust for bigger, better, more, more, and cheaper is a destructive economic/moral model.

Yes but Sodom and Gomorrah was part of that history.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting bigger, better, and more. I think it's wrong to want it without working for it.

Yep, I agree these things move in cycles. A cursory reading of history proves this out.
I hope this new economy will be the kick in the pants to the next generation and help them see how their parents lust for bigger, better, more, more, and cheaper is a destructive economic/moral model.

 

[sheeplady]

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting bigger, better, and more. I think it's wrong to want it without working for it.

I think the issue is when wanting more is your main driving force, without consideration of anything else.

I think there's a reason why so many religions encourage people to be free from want.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting bigger, better, and more. I think it's wrong to want it without working for it.

That's a delicate matter, though. Do you mean not working hard at all, as in just being a layabout, or not working to fully understand the complexities of whatever "it" is whose superlative (bigger, better, faster, more) you are enjoying? If it's the former, that's entirely subjective, and if it's the latter, that's a pretty slippery slope.

One does not need to know *how* or *why* something works the way it does to take advantage of its benefit. You don't need to understand aerodymanic lift to purchase an airplane ticket, or how a phone works to be able to use one. That's the "beauty" of technology. Of course the other side of that coin, the "curse of technology" if you will, is that it creates not only expectations, but also dependency, potentially to the point where the user cannot function without said piece of technology. Either way though, that's simply the nature of technology...we don't constantly re-invent the wheel. In his book "The Dilbert Future", Scott Adams facetiously, but more or less accurately, blames this phenomenon on the invention of the printing press.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Yep, I agree these things move in cycles. A cursory reading of history proves this out.
I hope this new economy will be the kick in the pants to the next generation and help them see how their parents lust for bigger, better, more, more, and cheaper is a destructive economic/moral model.

I can't remember if I've posted this before, but even so, it might be worth repeating.

My father believed that history will eventually recognize 1973 as the high-water mark of American culture. He said that before the 1973 oil crisis, the typical American family could comfortably exist on one income, leaving the other parent free to raise the family offspring. After 1973, more and more families required at least two incomes to meet their needs. This is because families began wanting more things and because the ’73 energy shock increased the prices of most consumer items as measured in real dollars. Thus, after 1973, more and more American children started being raised by someone...or something...other than a parent.

No question about it, my father was often prone to over-simplifying complex issues. But I’ve always thought he might have been correct in his thoughts about this.

AF

 

[jamespowers]

I can't remember if I've posted this before, but even so, it might be worth repeating.

My father believed that history will eventually recognize 1973 as the high-water mark of American culture. He said that before the 1973 oil crisis, the typical American family could comfortably exist on one income, leaving the other parent free to raise the family offspring. After 1973, more and more families required at least two incomes to meet their needs. This is because families began wanting more things and because the ’73 energy shock increased the prices of most consumer items as measured in real dollars. Thus, after 1973, more and more American children started being raised by someone...or something...other than a parent.

No question about it, my father was often prone to over-simplifying complex issues. But I’ve always thought he might have been correct in his thoughts about this.

AF

Makes sense. That was also the apex of the no good hippies too. I blame them just as much.

 

[vintageTink]

Definitely not those that age. lol lol I was thinking more of the age 6 and below crowd coming up.

My sons are three and five, and they already have great manners, so they should both be upstanding citizens.
We plan on homeschooling or sending them to a Christian school.

My younger son needed a haircut, and I told him so: "You need a haircut, hippie."
He said "I not a hippie!"

 

[vintageTink]

I can't remember if I've posted this before, but even so, it might be worth repeating.

My father believed that history will eventually recognize 1973 as the high-water mark of American culture. He said that before the 1973 oil crisis, the typical American family could comfortably exist on one income, leaving the other parent free to raise the family offspring. After 1973, more and more families required at least two incomes to meet their needs. This is because families began wanting more things and because the ’73 energy shock increased the prices of most consumer items as measured in real dollars. Thus, after 1973, more and more American children started being raised by someone...or something...other than a parent.

No question about it, my father was often prone to over-simplifying complex issues. But I’ve always thought he might have been correct in his thoughts about this.

AF

I agree with his assessment.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Don't know if it's been touched on earlier in this thread (as I don't have the time nor inclination to read through 382 pages) but besides the decline in moral and ethical standards, what about the decline in our standards of expectation? In pre-sale customer service, in the quality and workmanship in the products we buy, in service after the sale. In the way we are treated in stores: What would people in the golden era have done if they'd been stopped exiting a store by an employee demanding to check their receipt? Wal-Mart and Sam's Club shoppers have these days come to accept that as normal. How many of us have gone into a store recently and been met with a sales clerk that really knew their product and could answer all our questions, or even seemed to care? I recently went into an upscale men's store to browse their suits and the young man that waited on me had no idea what a peaked lapel was.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

I can't remember if I've posted this before, but even so, it might be worth repeating.

My father believed that history will eventually recognize 1973 as the high-water mark of American culture. He said that before the 1973 oil crisis, the typical American family could comfortably exist on one income, leaving the other parent free to raise the family offspring. After 1973, more and more families required at least two incomes to meet their needs. This is because families began wanting more things and because the ’73 energy shock increased the prices of most consumer items as measured in real dollars. Thus, after 1973, more and more American children started being raised by someone...or something...other than a parent.

No question about it, my father was often prone to over-simplifying complex issues. But I’ve always thought he might have been correct in his thoughts about this.

AF

I wholeheartedly agree with your Dad's idea and timing of this. I watched it happen until it became the norm.
...and then the 'Credit Card' came along as well.

 

[jamespowers]

My sons are three and five, and they already have great manners, so they should both be upstanding citizens.
We plan on homeschooling or sending them to a Christian school.

My younger son needed a haircut, and I told him so: "You need a haircut, hippie."
He said "I not a hippie!"

Good! You are doing a good job then. I tried the public school thing and it stunk so they are both in private school now and doing much better. I encourage everyone who can to just cut to the chase and go private.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Makes sense. That was also the apex of the no good hippies too. I blame them just as much.

My mother loves to tell a story about me riding in the car with her one day with the windows down. She pulls up to a light, and there's a group of hippies hanging out on the street corner. Apparently, I yelled out the window "Hey hippie, you're goin' to hell!....all you hippies are goin' to hell!" I was probably 4 or 5, so that would have been around 1971 or so.

 

[jamespowers]

I wholeheartedly agree with your Dad's idea and timing of this. I watched it happen until it became the norm.
...and then the 'Credit Card' came along as well.

Oh geez! The credit card!

 

[jamespowers]

My mother loves to tell a story about me riding in the car with her one day with the windows down. She pulls up to a light, and there's a group of hippies hanging out on the street corner. Apparently, I yelled out the window "Hey hippie, you're goin' to hell!....all you hippies are goin' to hell!" I was probably 4 or 5, so that would have been around 1971 or so.

You were right then but little did you know that they were going to try to drag us with them!

 

[3fingers]

What would people in the golden era have done if they'd been stopped exiting a store by an employee demanding to check their receipt? Wal-Mart and Sam's Club shoppers have these days come to accept that as normal.

I am generally not hard to get along with, but I will not stand for that. I was never a regular Walmart shopper, but I was accosted once and asked for my receipt. I politely told the fellow no and he threatened to call the police. I pulled out my phone and told him I would call for him. He asked me to leave. We must all collectively stand up to this foolishness where ever it happens or it will only increase. If enough people tell them to get stuffed, they will change. I have little doubt that you are watched on camera as closely in a large Walmart as you are in Las Vegas. Several people asked me what the big deal was. Just show your receipt and get on with your day. I think we put up with too much already. There comes a point where it should be acceptable to call people out. See LizzieMaines post a couple pages back about weak, craven and spineless.

 

[Matt Crunk]

Both my children were home-schooled through high school. I have mixed feelings about it. Yes, they probably got a better education without the bulls**t of public schools. But at the same time I feel they missed a lot of important social interaction that gave me some of my most cherished and important memories of my high-school years.

 

[jamespowers]

Both my children were home-schooled through high school. I have mixed feelings about it. Yes, they probably got a better education without the bulls**t of public schools. But at the same time I feel they missed a lot of important social interaction that gave me some of my most cherished and important memories of my high-school years.

High school gave me some of the most forgetable experiences of my life. I am glad you had a better experience.

 

[sheeplady]

I am generally not hard to get along with, but I will not stand for that. I was never a regular Walmart shopper, but I was accosted once and asked for my receipt. I politely told the fellow no and he threatened to call the police. I pulled out my phone and told him I would call for him. He asked me to leave. We must all collectively stand up to this foolishness where ever it happens or it will only increase. If enough people tell them to get stuffed, they will change. I have little doubt that you are watched on camera as closely in a large Walmart as you are in Las Vegas. Several people asked me what the big deal was. Just show your receipt and get on with your day. I think we put up with too much already. There comes a point where it should be acceptable to call people out. See LizzieMaines post a couple pages back about weak, craven and spineless.

Technically (depending upon your state, but at least in NY) if you are accused of shoplifting and they are in the wrong, you can turn around and sue the company. Also, they cannot accuse you of shoplifting until you have left the store. This is why these people *always* back down when you tell them to call the police if they don't actually think you did anything.

I once got accused by a checkout clerk of having stolen something I had bought from another store (an item not even sold by the store). I told her to call the manager... and I told the manager to call the police. Needless to say, I got an apology from the manager as I pulled out my cell phone to call the police myself when she refused to call them herself.