People are Changing, and I Don't Like It

[Baz]

Two CONCEPTS that should be at the top of the list to teach kids, but unfortunately aren't are:

1) Respect
2) Excellence

These two concepts should be emphasized EVERY day in our society.

Instead....we get what Patrick posted.

[rusnak]

To me, having class is more than just having an elevated sense of style, which is the textbook definition. It is having and maintaining grace and character, and therefore integrity, of respect and restraint. This is something that I have fallen far short of on most days due to my ambition and intensity, but the ideal is there to try to strive for every day. I guess in my case, it is defined by those things that I strive for most due to shortfalls.

[Tervuren]

When I read history, I find that local areas rise and fall, that humanity as a whole, probably remains about the same.

Just read some of the acts perpetrated by the "songs of liberty" in Boston if you want to know what good old fashioned vandalism is.

[pavulon]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

They developed a false sense if importance and entitlement.

Life was better when everyone took care of their own biddness and stayed out of everyone else's biddness

People today want others in their business because it makes them feel important...it's why facebook is worth billions.

[Baz]

I'll also add that there are some whose self-esteem is non-existent.

The only way to elevate their sense of self worth is to tear others and their legacy's down.

It's a cheap thrill but one that gives them a temporary high.

They'll never really have any self-respect....sad really....

[berettafan]

The ship thing was a neat thought. Sad story.

[RSBob]

Th desecration of military cemeteries, especially civil war really gets me. They are poor pathetic creatures that can't accomplish but get a temporary buzz from wanton destruction. The jails are full of them.

[Tobra]

Once upon a time boys were raised to be gentlemen. There have always been bad apples, but not the norm.

Things have changed profoundly in the last 50 years. Metrics that could reasonably be expected to increase the number of kids that had been raised right, have changed adversely. Upshot of course being that it is more likely an individual of low character will happen by and decide that the post on the corner with a duck decoy wearing a sweater bolted to it ought to burn down.

You should not need to put cameras and motion sensor activated sprinklers out to protect your old barn from vandalism, but it is what the world has become.

[RSBob]

We live in the age where in most families, both parents work. In the old days mom was around to keep an wary eye on the kiddos. Where people used to show there love by spending time together and dads would teach sons handy skills many, not all, now just give the kid money and leave the kid on their own. Postings on YouTube of destruction with a celebration after prompt imitators wanting to raise the bar. Lots of factors besides the usual genetically challenged rotten eggs.

[RKDinOKC]

It all started going down hill when they stopped allowing the schools to spank kids. And even worse when they made it so kids could call child services when they got spanked and the parents got in trouble. Yep there are other methods to punish kids, but removing spanking removes the most dreaded of punishments if punishment is done correctly.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The creation of "no fault" divorce laws in the USA has led to the marginalization of men, the trivialization of conventional family roles and the elimination of a LOT of parental oversight on kids growing up.

I agree with the OP's premise - we definitely have a lot more self-absorbed redneck jackass types nowadays that think nothing about anyone or anything other than themselves, their own egoes, etc. This is the result of nobody ever teaching them to do so, demanding that they do so or holding them accountable for doing anything other than that - a job that historically has been held by fathers, who now have been largely stripped out of kids' lives.

Put fathers back in kids' lives actively and watch the discipline return, the sense of entitlement disappear and the lack of respect for other people, our planet and our society vanish. There really is a correlation here.

[Heel n Toe]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Is the world really getting coarser, angrier and less respectful, or am I just turning into an old curmudgeon?

You're not turning into an old curmudgeon because you would've had the same reaction to these things 20-30 years ago.

Lots of spot-on analysis in this thread... many things contribute to what's happening, and like some have said, the increasing rarity of consequences for bad behavior has made bad behavior more prevalent.

There will always be trolls, however... sociopathic and/or psychopathic trolls. Like has been said, their dysfunction causes them to want to project their ills on others in an attempt to make them feel pain/misery/loss because inwardly, they don't think it's fair that they're miserable when others are not. Narcissism.


And then of course, you have just plain old, garden variety trolls... motivated by the same dysfunction, but perhaps to a lesser degree of severity...

Is he wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat?

[DanielDudley]

Originally Posted by RKDinOKC

It all started going down hill when they stopped allowing the schools to spank kids. And even worse when they made it so kids could call child services when they got spanked and the parents got in trouble. Yep there are other methods to punish kids, but removing spanking removes the most dreaded of punishments if punishment is done correctly.

If you spank your own children you can get in trouble.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The worst punishments for kids now seem to be humiliation (particularly in front of classmates / peers) and boredom / stimulus deprivation (as in "no screen time, no games, no going out - go sit in your room and think about why you're there for an hour or so"). Both are extremely effective in my experience and the kids tend to snap back into line VERY quickly when they're employed or even threatened. I very seldom need to discipline my kids anyway and have never even considered spanking as an option - it's a stupid form of punishment from a bygone era that only satisfy's some "adult's" inner bully and teaches kids to get their way by resorting to violence / hitting. There's no need for it at all. That said, I respect the right of a parent to use it if they're so stupid and desperate or lack the brains to come up with anything better.

Smart people use their minds and words, morons use their fists. This goes for child discipline too.

[86 ssinit]

Lawyers guys there's just too many lawyers!!! When they made a Law saying you can't spank your kids, they got more work$$$$$. Let's give people the right to burn flags$$$$. Let's give criminals rights$$$$. Somebody once said kill all the lawyers.

[Fast Freddy 944]

Originally Posted by rusnak

These younger, rude, and self absorbed people were raised by parents who thought that being a great parent meant being around them 24/7 and hovering over them like a mother hen.

Youngsters age getting worse! Spare the rod spoil the child, bro I agree with you!

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

People have always sucked. The internet, facebook, etc just make it easier to tell folks farther away. That said there is a notable book that predicted that things would get worse and worse before the end of the world. I won't mention the author.

Nor can you ...

_

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Once upon a time boys were raised to be gentlemen. There have always been bad apples, but not the norm.

Things have changed profoundly in the last 50 years. Metrics that could reasonably be expected to increase the number of kids that had been raised right, have changed adversely. Upshot of course being that it is more likely an individual of low character will happen by and decide that the post on the corner with a duck decoy wearing a sweater bolted to it ought to burn down.

You should not need to put cameras and motion sensor activated sprinklers out to protect your old barn from vandalism, but it is what the world has become.

That was awesome

[craigster59]

I like to refer to it as "The Jackass Generation". I blame Johnny Knoxville.

[Rot 911]

Originally Posted by 86 ssinit

Lawyers guys there's just too many lawyers!!! When they made a Law saying you can't spank your kids, they got more work$$$$$. Let's give people the right to burn flags$$$$. Let's give criminals rights$$$$. Somebody once said kill all the lawyers.

Were you being sarcastic or are you just ignorant?

First off, Shakespeare's exact line ''The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers,'' was stated by Dick the Butcher in ''Henry VI,'' Part II, act IV, Scene II, Line 73. Dick the Butcher was a follower of the rebel Jack Cade, who thought that if he disturbed law and order, he could become king. Shakespeare meant it as a compliment to attorneys and judges who instill justice in society.

Second, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, you are not forbidden by law to use corporal punishment on your child as long as the form of punishment is reasonable and does not cause injury.