What is happening to US society?

[Kadarin]

We have a society that does not value critical thinking and tends to herd individuals making their own informed decisions.

It is not that people are personally irresponsible, it is they have no concept of anything but "me" thanks to a consumerist society that provides enough superficial entertainment nonsense to keep everyone distracted with puppet shows (like our politicians) the system was rigged ages ago when corporations did things like using psychology in advertising. Now we have whole generations who consider commercial jingles to be part of the cultural landscape.

That's a load of crap.

The real reason is because we have too much liberal permissiveness and not enough God in our lives. If we had more God shoved down our throats all the time, bad things just wouldn't happen because the love of Jesus our Savior will transcend our evil Satan-inspired human nature.

 

[Steeplerot]

That's a load of crap.

The real reason is because we have too much liberal permissiveness and not enough God in our lives. If we had more God shoved down our throats all the time, bad things just wouldn't happen because the love of Jesus our Savior will transcend our evil Satan-inspired human nature.

Oh yes, I forgot mankind is inherently evil and sinful and just here to kiss the "bosses" ass on their knees. Since we are not kissing enough ass the boss gets hella jealous (he is just like that) and will destroy our society. How silly and idealistic of me to forget.

 

[soccerballtux]

Elderly man beaten to death outside walmart

Woman robs home where a murder was commited - Is life that hopeless that people have to rob the dead?

Woman get shopping cart dropped on her head by 12 year old kids - Holy crap, kids dropping shopping carts from 4 stories up, and laughing about it as they are arrested.

What is going on with the US that we have this kind of violence towards other people?

I know things are bad, but come on. Its like society is inching its way back to the stone age.

why shouldn't it? what moral standard is there that these people should care about?

 

[PrinceofWands]

If you just want to discuss the incidents themselves, no. If you want to draw broad conclusions about American society based on such incidents, yes.

This. Only aggregates matter.

 

[wuliheron]

The US has always had to worst social record of any developed country. Its also interesting to note it is the most religious country by far and the Bible Belt has the highest rates of abortion, STDs, divorce, and homicide among other things. All of these things appear to be the direct result of extreme income inequality with the US now placing 93rd in the world for income equality and having the lowest social mobility in the developed world. It doesn't take a genius to know that extremism leads to extremes.

 

[Siddhartha]

Elderly man beaten to death outside walmart

Woman robs home where a murder was commited - Is life that hopeless that people have to rob the dead?

Woman get shopping cart dropped on her head by 12 year old kids - Holy crap, kids dropping shopping carts from 4 stories up, and laughing about it as they are arrested.

What is going on with the US that we have this kind of violence towards other people?

I know things are bad, but come on. Its like society is inching its way back to the stone age.

You are trying to further your agenda and characterize the US using the behavior of a very small group of people and or a small number of events.

 

[jhu]

What is happening to US society?

Crime has been trending down. Next question?

 

[dmcowen674]

What is happening to US society?

Elderly man beaten to death outside walmart

Woman robs home where a murder was commited - Is life that hopeless that people have to rob the dead?

Woman get shopping cart dropped on her head by 12 year old kids - Holy crap, kids dropping shopping carts from 4 stories up, and laughing about it as they are arrested.

What is going on with the US that we have this kind of violence towards other people?

I know things are bad, but come on. Its like society is inching its way back to the stone age.

I warned about this back in 2000 on here.

Desperate people do desperate things and you are only seeing the beginning as more and more of the U.S. population slips into the Abyss of no hope.

 

[Siddhartha]

More cherry picked examples of what is happening to US society.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/L...onations-17-more-billionaries-sign-up-to-give

Charity donations: 17 more billionaries sign up to give
Charity donations pledged by the world's wealthiest are picking up as The Giving Pledge attracts new billionaires. So far, 57 have joined the Gates-Buffett effort.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/22/florida-good-samaritan-creates-hundreds-hats-for-kids/


Florida Good Samaritan Creates Hundreds of Hats for Kids

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Two 12 year old kids dropped a shopping cart on a ladies head from 4 stories up.

When the kids were arrested, its reported that they were laughing and telling jokes, but you want crime statistics before discussing anything?

If they were subject to execution or amputation of their arms perhaps they wouldn't find it so funny.

 

[Zargon]

I warned about this back in 2000 on here.

Desperate people do desperate things and you are only seeing the beginning as more and more of the U.S. population slips into the Abyss of no hope.

good job texashiker....look what you did

Wut? Shopping Cart execution is up Infinity% and you reply with this??

I don't even....

anomoly != new trend. call me when 10 more happen

shitty things happen everyday

 

[polarmystery]

A superficial consumerist society that glorifies greed and self interest with a foundation of sexual repression endlessly bombarded by commercialism (dishonesty)

Violence is sex to the USA as violence is the ultimate power trip. Even more effective then leveling money as power.

This country is full of a bunch of narcissistic sociopaths? You don't say?!

this.

 

[Modelworks]

Crime is down but the types of crime where things like people letting elderly get beat up are on the rise. It comes down to the 'me' and entitlement mentality. Religion is somewhat responsible in the it wasn't religion or God that kept people in check, it was the FEAR of God . Now people don't have much to fear when they do something wrong. The criminal system is a joke. If you don't want to work the government will support you. If you break the law in the financial system they slap your hands. Prisons are overcrowded so people get released early.

The people I blame more than any other is the parents, not the government or society. Parents in the last 15 years have wanted to become their kids friend, afraid to lay down the law for fear that their kid will not love them anymore.

If I hear parents talking to their kids about a new guy the parent just met and what they did on the date and how great looking he was and asking the kid what they should do next, I know there is going to be trouble in the kids future. There is asking advice from your kid in regards to the relationship changes that someone you date might have between you and the kid , but it is totally different when you start to involve the kid like he is your adult friend talking about dating and whether you should have sex with the new guy, etc. That crosses the line and makes the kid start to think they are on the same level with the adult and you lose all respect for anything you tell the kid to do or not do on the subject.

The same goes for things like respect when in stores. When a kid cries in a store and the parent gives in and gives the kid what they want ,the parent thinking it is no big deal are the ones that later have to go to court and bail out their kids.

I was in a store and a kid about 8 years old got some candy off the shelf put it in the cart and his mother told him no. The kid replied, "daddy gives you money for me so I can have what I want." There are so many things wrong with that remark that reveals how the kid is being parented and what kind of adult they will be. The same kid walked over to where I was and reached in front of me to get something lower on the shelf without saying a word, he almost pushed me aside. I immediately said ' If you reach in front of someone like that you say excuse me or please before you do it', he looked at me kind of embarrassed but then the mom stepped in by grabbing his arm and pulling him aside while the kid was telling her 'stop it'. A problem child in the making.

You cannot be a kids best friend and the person that sets the limits, if you try to do that the kid will use that relationship to bend the rules, it is natural they use that leverage. It is an old saying but I still think it holds true "You may not love me but you will respect me". Kids do not respect their parents nearly as much as they once did and that begets adults that will not allow anyone to tell them what to do , they know it all. If they have no respect for their parents or themselves then you can't expect them to have respect for others.

That is one of the reasons I left the big cities and went back to a rural area. Here we do see the problem parents but there are still a lot of parents that follow being a parent vs being a best friend. I always encounter people here saying please, thank you, excuse me, even with the kids and know that things like watching someone getting beat will not happen here because people still have respect.

 

[Modelworks]

All of these things appear to be the direct result of extreme income inequality with the US now placing 93rd in the world for income equality and having the lowest social mobility in the developed world. It doesn't take a genius to know that extremism leads to extremes.

Income has nothing to do with it. When people stopped fearing God and started to convert to the thinking of 'the majority makes the rules' things started to change. Religious part aside, God making the rules had one thing going for it, the rules were written in a book that man could not change.

The problem with the majority making the rules is that the rules can be challenged and changed to fit whomever is the majority at the time. There is no stability in it. For example the Constitution is a great document as an original but has been destroyed because man was allowed to change it to fit whatever the majority needed at the time. Some rules need to be cast in stone to prevent the influence of man.

Maybe in the distant future man will be capable of writing laws and rules that are best for everyone but right now man will only create laws and rules that serve the inner circle creating them.

 

[sandorski]

God making the rules had one thing going for it, the rules were written in a book that man could not change.

.

Your whole argument completely fails at this point. It has been changed, a lot.

 

[KlokWyze]

This is more perception on the OP's behalf rather than whats actually going on.

Yup. Shit like this, or really far worse shit has always happened.

 

[hal2kilo]

Two 12 year old kids dropped a shopping cart on a ladies head from 4 stories up.

When the kids were arrested, its reported that they were laughing and telling jokes, but you want crime statistics before discussing anything?

When I was 16, kids dropped a sewer top from a bridge over Rock Creek Parkway and killed the driver for a prank. I'm 57 now. Nothing really new except the media has to put out shit 24/7.


The greatest modern American composer to have lived got it right then and the words still ring true today.


Well I'm about to get sick
From watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friend
Is anybody's guess


So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day


Wednesday I watched the riot . . .
Seen the cops out on the street
Watched 'em throwin' rocks and stuff
And chokin' in the heat
Listened to reports
About the whisky passin' 'round
Seen the smoke and fire
And the market burnin' down
Watched while everybody
On his street would take a turn
To stomp and smash and bash and crash
And slash and bust and burn


And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day


Well, you can cool it,
You can heat it . . .
'Cause, baby, I don't need it . . .
Take your TV tube and eat it
'N all that phony stuff on sports
'N all the unconfirmed reports
You know I watched that rotten box
Until my head begin to hurt
From checkin' out the way
The newsman say they get the dirt
Before the guys on channel so-and-so


And further they assert
That any show they'll interrupt
To bring you news if it comes up
They say that if the place blows up
They will be the first to tell,
Because the boys they got downtown
Are workin' hard and doin' swell,
And if anybody gets the news
Before it hits the street,
They say that no one blabs it faster
Their coverage can't be beat


And if another woman driver
Gets machine-gunned from her seat
They'll send some joker with a brownie
And you'll see it all complete


So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day

Hey, you know something people?
I'm not black
But there's a whole lots a times
I wish I could say I'm not white


Well, I seen the fires burnin'
And the local people turnin'
On the merchants and the shops
Who used to sell their brooms and mops
And every other household item
Watched the mob just turn and bite 'em
And they say it served 'em right
Because a few of them are white,
And it's the same across the nation
Black and white discrimination
Yellin' "You can't understand me!"
'N all that other jazz they hand me
In the papers and TV and
All that mass stupidity
That seems to grow more every day
Each time you hear some nitwit say
He wants to go and do you in
Because the color of your skin
Just don't appeal to him
(No matter if it's black or white)
Because he's out for blood tonight


You know we got to sit around at home
And watch this thing begin
But I bet there won't be many live
To see it really end
'Cause the fire in the street
Ain't like the fire in the heart
And in the eyes of all these people
Don't you know that this could start
On any street in any town
In any state if any clown
Decides that now's the time to fight
For some ideal he thinks is right
And if a million more agree
There ain't no Great Society
As it applies to you and me
Our country isn't free
And the law refuses to see
If all that you can ever be
Is just a lousy janitor
Unless your uncle owns a store
You know that five in every four
Just won't amount to nothin' more
Gonna watch the rats go across the floor
And make up songs about being poor


Blow your harmonica, son!

Frank Zappa circa 1965/66

 

[wuliheron]

Income has nothing to do with it. When people stopped fearing God and started to convert to the thinking of 'the majority makes the rules' things started to change. Religious part aside, God making the rules had one thing going for it, the rules were written in a book that man could not change.

The problem with the majority making the rules is that the rules can be challenged and changed to fit whomever is the majority at the time. There is no stability in it. For example the Constitution is a great document as an original but has been destroyed because man was allowed to change it to fit whatever the majority needed at the time. Some rules need to be cast in stone to prevent the influence of man.

Maybe in the distant future man will be capable of writing laws and rules that are best for everyone but right now man will only create laws and rules that serve the inner circle creating them.

Of course, that completely ignores the fact that the highest rates of abortion, STDs, homicide, and divorce are in the Bible Belt and that the US has always had these kinds of problems from day one.

 

[hal2kilo]

Of course, that completely ignores the fact that the highest rates of abortion, STDs, homicide, and divorce are in the Bible Belt.

Yea, but at least they'll be forgiven.

 

[wuliheron]

Yea, but at least they'll be forgiven.

Not by me. What they need to do is forgive themselves and move on.

 

[Rainsford]

"What is happening to US society?"

Well, for one thing, certain individuals consider narrow perception and anecdotal evidence to be a replacement for data and intelligent analysis. And it's not just a matter of wishing people were smarter or better at the scientific method. Every single individual like this drives us some measurable amount away from dealing with reality. Which would be fine, except the point of accurately assessing reality is that you have to deal with it whether you accurately assess it or not...so it's probably better to do so.

If there are only a few such people, we're not doing too bad. If it's wide spread or institutionalized, we have a problem.

 

[Modelworks]

Of course, that completely ignores the fact that the highest rates of abortion, STDs, homicide, and divorce are in the Bible Belt and that the US has always had these kinds of problems from day one.

And those rates only became high when the people living in those areas moved away from their religion and started embracing the do what I want regardless of who it hurts mentality. To the people believing in religion at the time they had something to lose , they believed their souls could be damned for eternity. The concept that God was watching what they did put a kind of fear into them that regulated their actions. To the people that lived without religion the only threat to their actions is what another man decides for punishment, worst being death. With religion not even death could save you from having to answer for your deeds.

 

[Modelworks]

Your whole argument completely fails at this point. It has been changed, a lot.

Changed yes, but not by a lot because no matter how much someone may want to change something they can't , the written word says what it says and it can't be added to or taken away . You can change the interpretation but you can't add to something like the King James version of the bible without it becoming something else. The biggest change for religion came about when bibles were printed for the masses because now anyone could read the bible and no longer did people have to rely on a priest to be the interpreter. The church hated the idea because now they couldn't make the words say what they wanted because any man could verify what was written.

 

[CallMeJoe]

And those rates only became high when the people living in those areas moved away from their religion and started embracing the do what I want regardless of who it hurts mentality...

If only we could return to those halcyon day of religious devotion when there was no crime nor injustice...

 

[Rainsford]

And those rates only became high when the people living in those areas moved away from their religion and started embracing the do what I want regardless of who it hurts mentality. To the people believing in religion at the time they had something to lose , they believed their souls could be damned for eternity. The concept that God was watching what they did put a kind of fear into them that regulated their actions. To the people that lived without religion the only threat to their actions is what another man decides for punishment, worst being death. With religion not even death could save you from having to answer for your deeds.

Aren't you rejecting the idea of a personal philosophy that provides a moral standard? An atheist may not believe that he'll go to hell for his actions, but his moral compass can still tell him it's the wrong thing to do.