The general decline in standards today

[Big J]

If it is a requirement, presumably at the consequence of some sort of punishment, I'm not how you can see it as anything else.

I'm just not that keen on the government "whipping"'any ideology into people, whether I happen to agree with it or not b

I agree with that. Governments should stay clear of ideology, and focus on managing the day-to-day functioning of society. This is part of the problem, too many politicians and voters think that politicians should be offering a 'vision of the future to the people'.
I'm quite capable of dreaming my own visions, and taking responsibility for my dreams and goals.
If some poor sap sitting in front of the TV needs some power hungry daddies-boy to tell him what his dreams are, I don't want any part of it.
The US constitution guarantees my right to the pursuit of happiness, that's the end of the governments role in my dream, thank you very much.

 

[LuvMyMan]

I have to agree 100%. I've been hearing how standards have dropped for 40 years, my father remembers people saying this in 1937 - with much more reason given he was in Europe. I personally feel my country is better and worse than it was 40 years ago. Depends on what I'm thinking of.

Humans will always remain Humans....

I do however think that a set generation of "us" within our life times do observe decay in things that had at one time been considered worthy and good, to then see that one thing become abused, used and go right down the drain.

As to anyone comparing what happened such a long time ago in Rome....I seriously doubt such an example can apply today...I mean when you have to stop and think, did they sell popcorn at the Arena
while they had Gladiator fighting, and tossing Christians to the Lions?

Things do tend to become more "acceptable" when it comes to some issues socially.....in some ways the Media has made it be "old news" and the standards drop due to that factor.....as you can stop to think, what "are" the standards today compared to even 100 years ago? They are going to be some what different as society has changed. With that change comes a new viewpoint on the same topics.....but to write enough to express the ideas about and or surrounding the decay and decline of standards would take me about an hours worth of typing....not gonna happen.

 

[Big J]

As to anyone comparing what happened such a long time ago in Rome....I seriously doubt such an example can apply today...I mean when you have to stop and think, did they sell popcorn at the Arena
while they had Gladiator fighting, and tossing Christians to the Lions?

Not popcorn, bread. Never heard of 'bread and circuses'?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

There is nothing new under the sun.

If you don't like Rome, how about Buddhism?
Since it's earliest recorded inception in India, Buddhism has stated that the 'world' has a cycle of four stages. Of course, when Buddhism started, the world was already in the final stage, Mappo, 'The end of Buddha Law', that is to say, the 'general decline in standards' (which obviously means that the end is nigh). Thousands of years later, I hasten to point out, 'Mappo' hasn't ended, and neither has the world.

I conclude, therefore, that there is some psychological effect that is taking place that convinces a number of people of a certain age or above, living in any society or culture, at any period in time, that 'things are going to pot', whether they indeed are or not (and I believe not).

 

[LizzieMaine]

Until I was in my thirties, I didn't have to worry about some drug-crazed thug breaking into my home in broad daylight, such as happens in my neighborhood often enough that people worry about it happening. That's enough evidence of "declining standards" for me.

I couldn't care less about etiquette or the height of armholes or any of the rest of that prissy bourgeois crap -- I'm more concerned with a society that's tearing itself apart thru the narcissistic fetishization of "personal freedom to do whatever I want."

 

[HeyMoe]

Korea...1953 .
I remember my cousin packing his Army duffel bag getting ready to leave.

I recall the smell of the Army . Some of you would understand about the certain
odor of Army gear & equipment .

I miss that smell I was in for the long haul but a major knee injury at the time of reenlistment (I had extended a number of times) forced me out - or into a MEDAC unit (I was a medic) but I was having too much fun with humping & jumping with the grunts to go to a REMF unit. In hind sight I should have gone to the MEDAC unit - I would have retired in 2008.

 

[ChiTownScion]

Until I was in my thirties, I didn't have to worry about some drug-crazed thug breaking into my home in broad daylight, such as happens in my neighborhood often enough that people worry about it happening. That's enough evidence of "declining standards" for me.

I couldn't care less about etiquette or the height of armholes or any of the rest of that prissy bourgeois crap -- I'm more concerned with a society that's tearing itself apart thru the dubious fetishization of "personal freedom to do whatever I want."

Having survived the 1960's I've learned not to obsess too much on current events-personal or societal- being seen as irrefutable evidence of an impending zombie apocalypse.

I do, however, recognize that the attitude that wealth, particularly individually inherited or corporate wealth, somehow can purchase special status under law needs to be corrected. It wasn't individual home owner mortgagees who brought about the economic meltdown that occurred at the end of the last decade, and perpetuating the myth that illegal conduct is mitigated because the offender is a "job creator," (of minimum wage or third world sweatshop "jobs," if investigation is objectively carried out) does this country a great disservice. When we as a nation are witnessing a greater concentration of wealth into fewer hands, we are inviting a lawlessness that makes residential break-ins look like a game of tidily winks.

 

[Feraud]

School is back in session for our children and I've already had it "up to here" listening to parents complain about the heavy school workload.
What do parents expect from school? A nice place to hang out and update social media statuses?
From what I remember (and I could be wrong) American students didn't fare academically as well as their peers in the rest of the world.
It's no wonder with the crappy attitude shown by the majority of parents I've encountered so far. Talk about a decline in standards..

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I'm more concerned with a society that's tearing itself apart thru the narcissistic fetishization of "personal freedom to do whatever I want."

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if it's all part of "The Plan." Because while liberty is disappearing little by little, it's being replaced by libertinage which gives the illusion of liberty.

 

[Feraud]

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if it's all part of "The Plan." Because while liberty is disappearing little by little, it's being replaced by libertinage which gives the illusion of liberty.

I wouldn't be surprised. It's a lot easier to allow people give away liberty than to take it..

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Interestingly, in Orwell's 1984, Big Brother's "Ministry of Truth," in addition to churning out propaganda, also produced pornography for consumption of the "Proles."

 

[Feraud]

Ha, sounds very familiar..

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sometimes I can't help but wonder if it's all part of "The Plan." Because while liberty is disappearing little by little, it's being replaced by libertinage which gives the illusion of liberty.

What's interesting to me is how much emphasis was placed in the civics education of the 1910-1950 era on the obligations of the individual to society. Study actual civics textbooks of that period -- not revisionist blog posts or post-1980 doubletalk -- and you'll see just how the society of that period emphasized that there had to be a balance between "personal freedom" and what the individual *owed* to his community, his government, his religion, his society as a whole. People were raised from childhood to believe in the individual's place in the social order -- these values were inculcated in school, in church, in the Boy and Girl Scouts, in Boys and Girls Clubs, at the Y, even in Radio Orphan Annie's Secret Society and the Junior Justice Society of America. There's no getting around it -- the belief in the individual as a component of a greater social whole was the fundamental philosophy of the Era in the United States.

But what do we see today? The schools emphasize "doing your own thing," the churches are either moribund or paranoid, the Scouts and similar youth clubs are all but extinct as a major social force, and the Y is a place to admire yourself in the mirror while toning your glutes. Even Batman is a grim loner doing his own thing instead of a badge-carrying agent of social order.

You can go down here to the pet store and buy a parrot, and you can teach him to say "Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!" all day long. But that parrot will never understand that with "liberty" comes obligation -- *real* obligation to the rest of society. That parrot is pretty much typical of what we see around us today.

 

[jamespowers]

Sounds like at least half of the people I've worked with over the last 36 years.

That definitely says something about standards right there.

 

[jamespowers]

I agree with that. Governments should stay clear of ideology, and focus on managing the day-to-day functioning of society. This is part of the problem, too many politicians and voters think that politicians should be offering a 'vision of the future to the people'.
I'm quite capable of dreaming my own visions, and taking responsibility for my dreams and goals.
If some poor sap sitting in front of the TV needs some power hungry daddies-boy to tell him what his dreams are, I don't want any part of it.
The US constitution guarantees my right to the pursuit of happiness, that's the end of the governments role in my dream, thank you very much.

Now this I can agree with completely!

 

[jamespowers]

Not popcorn, bread. Never heard of 'bread and circuses'?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

There is nothing new under the sun.

If you don't like Rome, how about Buddhism?
Since it's earliest recorded inception in India, Buddhism has stated that the 'world' has a cycle of four stages. Of course, when Buddhism started, the world was already in the final stage, Mappo, 'The end of Buddha Law', that is to say, the 'general decline in standards' (which obviously means that the end is nigh). Thousands of years later, I hasten to point out, 'Mappo' hasn't ended, and neither has the world.

I conclude, therefore, that there is some psychological effect that is taking place that convinces a number of people of a certain age or above, living in any society or culture, at any period in time, that 'things are going to pot', whether they indeed are or not (and I believe not).

Nah, let's take Rome. It fell didn't it? That was precisely due to falling standards and rot from within. The Roman “intelligencia” had become so debauched and corrupt that they were no longer able to defend themselves from threats outside themselves or from within as their cohesive society fell apart.
There are ebbs and flows in declines as I mentioned before. Sometimes you reach a rock bottom as was the case after Rome fell. Then eventually society raises itself out of the mud again reaches a peak and then declines again. History has numerous examples of this. Rome, Egypt, Babylon etc, etc.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nah, let's take Rome. It fell didn't it? That was precisely due to falling standards and rot from within. The Roman “intelligencia” had become so debauched and corrupt that they were no longer able to defend themselves from threats outside themselves or from within as their cohesive society fell apart.
There are ebbs and flows in declines as I mentioned before. Sometimes you reach a rock bottom as was the case after Rome fell. Then eventually society raises itself out of the mud again reaches a peak and then declines again. History has numerous examples of this. Rome, Egypt, Babylon etc, etc.

Exactly right. And it's the very height of hubris for people to think that modern civilization will be any different. Five thousand years from now, all the beliefs and governments and economic systems that we take so very seriously will be no more relevant than those of ancient Assyria.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I agree with that. Governments should stay clear of ideology, and focus on managing the day-to-day functioning of society. This is part of the problem, too many politicians and voters think that politicians should be offering a 'vision of the future to the people'.
I'm quite capable of dreaming my own visions, and taking responsibility for my dreams and goals.
If some poor sap sitting in front of the TV needs some power hungry daddies-boy to tell him what his dreams are, I don't want any part of it.
The US constitution guarantees my right to the pursuit of happiness, that's the end of the governments role in my dream, thank you very much.

What's even more frightening is the rock star status people accord certain political figures. So much so that any criticism of said political figure is taken as a personal affront by these people. You might as well be attacking their mother. :doh:

 

[sheeplady]

If it is a requirement, presumably at the consequence of some sort of punishment, I'm not how you can see it as anything else.

I'm just not that keen on the government "whipping"'any ideology into people, whether I happen to agree with it or not b

Do you agree with public education?

I see this as no different than our requirement that youth age 6 to 16 in my state attend school (be it private, home, or public, they must be enrolled).

 

[LizzieMaine]

What's even more frightening is the rock star status people accord certain political figures. So much so that any criticism of said political figure is taken as a personal affront by these people. You might as well be attacking their mother. :doh:

That's been going on about thirty years now, and you're right, it *is* tiresome.

 

[Atticus Finch]

...and perpetuating the myth that illegal conduct is mitigated because the offender is a "job creator".

You've noticed this, too? In my little part of the world it seems that any social ill can be rationalized by the possibly that the ill may create a job. "In the news: An environmental impact study revealed that the proposed golfing development will drain ten-thousand acres of virgin wetlands and extirpate several species of aquatic plants and animals. But the chamber of commerce countered that the development could create as many as seven jobs."

AF