Is our society regressing?

_
_ Posts: 6,657
edited May 2010 in A Moving Train
Am I the only one who fears lately that as a society we are moving backward instead of forward? Has anyone else noticed an increase in intolerance and injustice and a decrease in compassion and humanity? Are people more self-interested than they used to be? Is our chauvinism and xenophobia getting stronger? Has it been this way all along and I'm just starting to notice? Is this message board just totally warping my sense of reality? I spoke with some friends about it today who know nothing of this message board and they think it really is getting worse. What do you think?

ETA: I guess the follow-up questions are: If this is really happening, why? And what can we do about it?
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • FiveB247x
    FiveB247x Posts: 2,330
    Yes I agree with you 110%. It's been going on for a long time - not sure of one specific moment in which it began, but I think in some respects when public relations and marketing became incorporated with media and politics, it led us down a terribly destructive path in which we'll never recover. Because of this cohesion, we have placed a price tag on anything and everything in life, shown far less humanity as it brings out the worst in mankind and dumbed-down society to vast levels which will only spiral further down. As George Carlin once said, we're circling the drain.
    scb wrote:
    Am I the only one who fears lately that as a society we are moving backward instead of forward? Has anyone else noticed an increase in intolerance and injustice and a decrease in compassion and humanity? Are people more self-interested than they used to be? Is our chauvinism and xenophobia getting stronger? Has it been this way all along and I'm just starting to notice? Is this message board just totally warping my sense of reality? I spoke with some friends about it today who know nothing of this message board and they think it really is getting worse. What do you think?
    CONservative governMENt

    Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis
  • catefrances
    catefrances Posts: 29,003
    welcome to the jungle baby.
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    FiveB247x wrote:
    Yes I agree with you 110%. It's been going on for a long time - not sure of one specific moment in which it began, but I think in some respects when public relations and marketing became incorporated with media and politics, it led us down a terribly destructive path in which we'll never recover. Because of this cohesion, we have placed a price tag on anything and everything in life, shown far less humanity as it brings out the worst in mankind and dumbed-down society to vast levels which will only spiral further down. As George Carlin once said, we're circling the drain.
    scb wrote:
    Am I the only one who fears lately that as a society we are moving backward instead of forward? Has anyone else noticed an increase in intolerance and injustice and a decrease in compassion and humanity? Are people more self-interested than they used to be? Is our chauvinism and xenophobia getting stronger? Has it been this way all along and I'm just starting to notice? Is this message board just totally warping my sense of reality? I spoke with some friends about it today who know nothing of this message board and they think it really is getting worse. What do you think?

    Yes, I feel like you're right. So what are we going to do about it? :?
    catefrances wrote:
    welcome to the jungle baby.
    :lol::lol::lol:
  • KDH12
    KDH12 Posts: 2,096
    I think that the war on terror has a lot to do with it, us against them attitude

    I think we need to protect ourselves and there are different ways to go about that however now we live in an age where we fear everyone.... that is dangerous and in extreme cases leads to such things as genocide

    I use to have a close friend that also said how she hated the notion of patriotism, that this idea alone caused people to view themselves as better and lead people to separate themselves from the larger view of the world, the human race
    **CUBS GO ALL THE WAY IN......never **
  • g under p
    g under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,237
    I like these words in the song by

    Michael Franti & Spearhead....Tolerance

    A child is born, and a mamma's torn
    About the life that it's bound to live
    A sun and moon and a modest home
    Is all they asking the Lord to give
    But politics and big events they never seem to notice the little guy
    So make a plan or simply hold a hand but don't ever be a passer by

    Tolerance or violence and the whole world go to war
    Is one enough or is one too many
    Before we say, "No More"
    Could you ever love a pot of gold?
    Could you ever love another lonely soul?
    Could you ever find a love that was oceans wide?
    Could you ever find love in another stranger's eyes?

    Oh, give a little,
    Tolerance, tolerance
    We need you more and more
    So lend a hand or simply hold a friend
    That’s in need of a life support
    Draw a picture, share a whisper
    Anyway that you can rise above
    And when the end is near who is goanna volunteer
    To be the last one to die for love

    Tolerance or violence and the whole world go to war
    Is one enough or is one too many
    Before we say, "No More"
    no more, no more, no more, no more

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • FiveB247x
    FiveB247x Posts: 2,330
    Sit back and watch the freak show/circus ;)
    scb wrote:
    FiveB247x wrote:
    Yes I agree with you 110%. It's been going on for a long time - not sure of one specific moment in which it began, but I think in some respects when public relations and marketing became incorporated with media and politics, it led us down a terribly destructive path in which we'll never recover. Because of this cohesion, we have placed a price tag on anything and everything in life, shown far less humanity as it brings out the worst in mankind and dumbed-down society to vast levels which will only spiral further down. As George Carlin once said, we're circling the drain.
    scb wrote:
    Am I the only one who fears lately that as a society we are moving backward instead of forward? Has anyone else noticed an increase in intolerance and injustice and a decrease in compassion and humanity? Are people more self-interested than they used to be? Is our chauvinism and xenophobia getting stronger? Has it been this way all along and I'm just starting to notice? Is this message board just totally warping my sense of reality? I spoke with some friends about it today who know nothing of this message board and they think it really is getting worse. What do you think?

    Yes, I feel like you're right. So what are we going to do about it? :?
    catefrances wrote:
    welcome to the jungle baby.
    :lol::lol::lol:
    CONservative governMENt

    Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis
  • Boxes&Books
    Boxes&Books USA Posts: 2,672
    scb wrote:
    FiveB247x wrote:
    Yes I agree with you 110%. It's been going on for a long time - not sure of one specific moment in which it began, but I think in some respects when public relations and marketing became incorporated with media and politics, it led us down a terribly destructive path in which we'll never recover. Because of this cohesion, we have placed a price tag on anything and everything in life, shown far less humanity as it brings out the worst in mankind and dumbed-down society to vast levels which will only spiral further down. As George Carlin once said, we're circling the drain.
    scb wrote:
    Am I the only one who fears lately that as a society we are moving backward instead of forward? Has anyone else noticed an increase in intolerance and injustice and a decrease in compassion and humanity? Are people more self-interested than they used to be? Is our chauvinism and xenophobia getting stronger? Has it been this way all along and I'm just starting to notice? Is this message board just totally warping my sense of reality? I spoke with some friends about it today who know nothing of this message board and they think it really is getting worse. What do you think?

    Yes, I feel like you're right. So what are we going to do about it? :?
    catefrances wrote:
    welcome to the jungle baby.
    :lol::lol::lol:

    scb,
    I am with you on your thread and I am also with you on taking action....My commitment is available....
    I was actually thinking of posting a similar thread....
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    tonifig8 wrote:
    scb,
    I am with you on your thread and I am also with you on taking action....My commitment is available....
    I was actually thinking of posting a similar thread....

    Yea! Does that make us a movement? :D
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    FiveB247x wrote:
    Yes I agree with you 110%. It's been going on for a long time - not sure of one specific moment in which it began, but I think in some respects when public relations and marketing became incorporated with media and politics, it led us down a terribly destructive path in which we'll never recover. Because of this cohesion, we have placed a price tag on anything and everything in life, shown far less humanity as it brings out the worst in mankind and dumbed-down society to vast levels which will only spiral further down. As George Carlin once said, we're circling the drain.

    I heard this quote a little while ago and to me it seems relevant:
    Rosa Montero wrote:
    Words create worlds, and the account of an event is more real than reality.
  • OutOfBreath
    OutOfBreath Posts: 1,804
    Said a bit differently:

    "What is perceived as real, becomes real in it's consequences"

    Dont remember where I've got it from, but probably from some sociology book I read while at the university.

    Peace
    Dan
    "YOU [humans] NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?" - Death

    "Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
  • WaveCameCrashin
    WaveCameCrashin Posts: 2,929
    Yes.... I think it is. I have asked this same ? and I usually get a different answer from different people especially baby boomers. Many of whom think(conservatives) that when prayer was taken out of public schools and god taken out of the public sector, the country started going to shit.
    My mom thinks around the time that JFK was asassinated things and the way people started treating one another started to go south.
  • Jason P
    Jason P Posts: 19,327
    scb wrote:
    Am I the only one who fears lately that as a society we are moving backward instead of forward? Has anyone else noticed an increase in intolerance and injustice and a decrease in compassion and humanity? Are people more self-interested than they used to be? Is our chauvinism and xenophobia getting stronger? Has it been this way all along and I'm just starting to notice? Is this message board just totally warping my sense of reality? I spoke with some friends about it today who know nothing of this message board and they think it really is getting worse. What do you think?

    ETA: I guess the follow-up questions are: If this is really happening, why? And what can we do about it?
    I guess it depends what time periods you are comparing. If you are comparing today versus the 1950's, then possibly. If you are comparing today to the Middle Ages in Europe, then I think we are much better off today . . . at least until The Running Man becomes reality.

    Another factor that I think is often overlooked is the information overload. There are too many things out there that a person should be compassionate about. My point is that in 1950 you worried about your community, your job, whatever the local paper was covering, and the Russians. Now, there are so many tragic news stories daily that when nine people are killed by a car bomb, it hardly phases me. And its not that nine dead people don't bother me, but it has gotten to the point that there are two of these stories every single day. So you feel bad for about 5-10 seconds, then you eat a donut, then you check PJ's setlist from K.C., and then the story is forgotten.

    I think everyone has to pick their battles for what they want to stand up against. If you end up trying to worry and be compassionate about too many issues, your head will explode or you will end up very unhappy and frustrated (i.e. Sean Penn).
    Be Excellent To Each Other
    Party On, Dudes!
  • polaris_x
    polaris_x Posts: 13,559
    it depends on what you would consider progressing ... the problem is that everybody has different ideas of progress and society for what its worth is simply a manufactured existence ... people think they live independent lives but the reality is they are told what to think, buy, eat, etc ...

    people definitely have lost all compassion ... these wars overseas ... corporations poisoning people for the might buck ... it's endless ... people who try to make a difference are often ostracized by society simply because of ignorance ...
  • _
    _ Posts: 6,657
    I guess I was thinking of progress primarily in terms of like civil rights kinds of issues. And I meant modern times, not the Middle Ages.
  • he still stands
    he still stands Posts: 2,835
    Last weekend I was kayaking, a friend and I stopped at a big boulder in the middle of the river, anchored our boats and just were chilling on the rocks. A helicopter circled above us and with a loudspeaker told us to leave the area.

    I have a warrant out for my arrest for driving on a suspended license. But I've proven to the State of PA that there was never any reason to suspend it. They did so because they said I was driving without insurance, which I have proven to them to be untrue. But the DMV and the State Police apparently cannot communicate because the police are looking to arrest me, even though I went to the county police station and resolved the issue there.

    On NPR this morning they presented 2 ways to deal with Iran's nuclear capabilities: Preemptive attack and regime change. So... the liberal media says we must go to war with Iran.

    My employer gives me 7 days of vacation the entire year, which includes days I call off sick. I had the flu earlier this winter so I'm down to 4 days the rest of the year, and I live paycheck to paycheck because the dollar's purchasing power is a fraction of what it once was. Basically, I'm an indentured servant.

    Any brown person is now suspect in Arizona.

    Medical pot is going to be much harder to get now in CA.

    People are still killing each other over fairy tales.

    My net pay is 52% of my gross pay because spousal support is ridiculous... even though she left me.

    I can't go camping in this state without paying $23 or going to a private campground.

    The US is still fighting 2 wars in the middle east, but the primary hotbed of terrorist activity is in southeast asia.

    Mankind just ruined the Gulf of Mexico.

    The US has over 5,000 nuclear weapons but doesn't want any other countries to have any, unless those countries are the UK, France, or Israel (and Russia is okay because of MAD). The logic behind this baffles me.

    Global climate change is unquivacablly real, but for some reason people are denying it. I guess so they can continue driving SUVs and living in 5,000 sq ft mansions guilt-free.

    I heard someone say "irregardless" today.

    Sarah Palin is alive.

    ..........


    so, yeah.
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • polaris_x
    polaris_x Posts: 13,559
    he still stands wrote:
    Global climate change is unquivacablly real, but for some reason people are denying it. I guess so they can continue driving SUVs and living in 5,000 sq ft mansions guilt-free.

    actually ... it's because corporations tell them it's not real and to some here corporations are more trustworthy than scientists ...

    in any case - when you piece it together bit by bit - it just seems more and more ludicrous ... beyond the fact sarah palin is alive ... she is making money hand over fist which basically shows what society values ... the superficial and the stupid ...
  • Jason P
    Jason P Posts: 19,327
    scb wrote:
    I guess I was thinking of progress primarily in terms of like civil rights kinds of issues. And I meant modern times, not the Middle Ages.
    I don't think so. I'm living in a small town in northern Indiana right now and one of our Churches has an openly gay minister. There is no way that would have ever happened even 10 years ago.

    But if you currently live in the southwest, you may have a different opinion based on the current debate. If I was still living in southern Texas or San Diego, I may have a different opinion as well. Regardless, I'm not concerned we are heading back towards an era similar to 1960's Mississippi.
    Be Excellent To Each Other
    Party On, Dudes!
  • inmytree
    inmytree Posts: 4,741
    scb wrote:
    Am I the only one who fears lately that as a society we are moving backward instead of forward? Has anyone else noticed an increase in intolerance and injustice and a decrease in compassion and humanity? Are people more self-interested than they used to be? Is our chauvinism and xenophobia getting stronger? Has it been this way all along and I'm just starting to notice? Is this message board just totally warping my sense of reality? I spoke with some friends about it today who know nothing of this message board and they think it really is getting worse. What do you think?

    ETA: I guess the follow-up questions are: If this is really happening, why? And what can we do about it?


    well, I guess it depends on who you talk to...There will always be the "back in my day" crowd, who for some reason think the past is "better" that the present...

    for me, I think society is simply society...there will always be something "bad" happening...and if you only focus on the bad, you can't see the good...granted, progress is slow, and often times things get worse before they get better...but overall, I think society is doing ok...
  • WaveCameCrashin
    WaveCameCrashin Posts: 2,929
    Check this out.... I was at panera bread a little while ago and I was eating a bagel and drinking some coffe,and these two little skinny white girls sit at a table across from me. They couldn't have been more than 20 yrs old. Well one of the girls was waering a t-shirt that said " TALK SHIT & GET HIT " and it had a picture of brass knuckles on the shirt. :o :?
    Now this girl would loose a fight to peice of marsh grass,that's how skinny she was. Im all for free speech,but really??? I mean is that really necessary to wear something like that in a family type setting. I just don't get why someone would want to draw that kind of attention to themselves.
  • Boxes&Books
    Boxes&Books USA Posts: 2,672
    prfctlefts wrote:
    Now this girl would loose a fight to peice of marsh grass,that's how skinny she was. .

    :lol::lol::lol:
    Your comment was funny as heck.....I thought the shirt statement was also funny ....inappropriate, but funny
    Maybe we can ask the federal government to step in and regulate....... ;)

    Problem is that a lot of kids get there values from TV. Most parents don't need a babysitter, they just get another TV and sit there child in front of it.

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