Have We Squandered Our Cultural Inheritance?

[rightwinger]

Rightwinger.. You're welcome to spend the day chasing data as you please, but I don't choose to do so. This is an OPINION piece and one that I happen to agree with. Unlike you, I don't need a stack of data to validate my opinion to myself.

So what is your baseline. To say that something is in decline, you really ought to baseline it against something. Do you really believe that we were a more moral people at other points of our history. I'd be interested to hear that argument articulated.

Within the context of their times, yes. People were more thoughtful of why they believed what they did. They took care to pass that on, both through example and actual teaching to their children. Part of the fact was that most work was done as a family, at home. No doubt it's more difficult today to spend time in actual thought of what, if anything we are passing on.

Today too, many think it's 'wrong' to indoctrinate children into any belief system. It's sort of a 'be nice' philosophy and has wrought many problems at home, school, and workplaces.

If you want to discuss moral values of the past, lets look at the golden age of the 50s. Children were taught that blacks are inferior, gays are evil, people of other cultures were not to be trusted, Jews are devious, women are second class citizens

But people went to church ....so that made them more moral

 

[Mr. Peepers]

not value this country and her culture

America has no discernable culture of its own. Besides, 99.9% of what "culture" we do have is created by those heathen, lefty artists, musicians and designers. OH... you meant "conservative" fake patriotism, shallow xtian "culture". Got it. No thanks. Lee Greenwood sucks.

 

[Dick Tuck]

Rightwinger.. You're welcome to spend the day chasing data as you please, but I don't choose to do so. This is an OPINION piece and one that I happen to agree with. Unlike you, I don't need a stack of data to validate my opinion to myself.

So what is your baseline. To say that something is in decline, you really ought to baseline it against something. Do you really believe that we were a more moral people at other points of our history. I'd be interested to hear that argument articulated.

I'd say as a baseline you can look at our entertainment as one example. Have you watched a reality television show? The public delights in watching people just be nasty to one another. We seem to be missing more basic empathy and compassion in our everyday lives.

Yet in the days that June Cleaver vaccumed wearing pearls, spousal and child abuse was rampant, people were institutionally seperated by the color of their skin, churches were being bombed with children inside, people were being murdered for daring to try to register to vote, etc.. Nope, more romantic tripe. I could really care less if every other word out of Gordon Ramsey's mouth is a bleep. It's certainly a hell of a lot better than banning books like Catcher In The Rye and Irma La Duce. I'd rather hear some foul mouth rant than the days when a public lynching was a cause for a family picinic.

 

[rightwinger]

If you look backward you can see the decline of our cultural value. And to me that mean each of us is a unique individual but we hang together as Americans. That's no longer true. The left elected a president who does not value this country and her culture, he refused to wear a flag pin, his wife said it took 45 years for her to find a reason for pride. he wants to burden us with a cap and trade bill for energy and will send billions of that money to Africa, he sides with Mexico over enforcing our countries laws and is suing the state of Arizona. We allowed illegals to march in protest in our streets carrying their flag over ours. we allowed the empire state building to be lit up in communist chinese red, the left bitches about Christmas every year and tries to make it a "winter holiday" while the Christians want to celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ, but the atheists won't let that happen they spoil it every year with all their stupid arguements about when Christ was born and what a tree mean and bla bla bla When I was growing up Christmas could just be Christmas. The librul fucks in this country basically don't like this country that's why they are hell bent on changing it.

Willow....I actually read your childish ramblings

None of it has to do with the morality of the American people

 

[Mr. Peepers]

I'd say as a baseline you can look at our entertainment as one example. Have you watched a reality television show? The public delights in watching people just be nasty to one another. We seem to be missing more basic empathy and compassion in our everyday lives.

That has more to do with materialism, consumerism, intellectual incuriosity and the disposable society that Americans are used to. The only thing most Americans really care about is $$$. THAT is the problem.

 

[rightwinger]

not value this country and her culture

America has no discernable culture of its own. Besides, 99.9% of what "culture" we do have is created by those heathen, lefty artists, musicians and designers. OH... you meant "conservative" fake patriotism, shallow xtian "culture". Got it. No thanks. Lee Greenwood sucks.

And yet America has the most dominant culture on earth. More countries copy American culture than any other

 

[Mr. Peepers]

And yet America has the most dominant culture on earth. More countries copy American culture than any other

I don't think that our pop culture was the culture that she was referring to, because anything "lefty" must be "immoral" or "bad".

 

[Avatar4321]

Values that have been Declining

Work ethic
Individual Responsibility
Individual charity
Honesty
Zeal for knowledge which includes:
a) Looking at original sources
b) Reading things you don't like
c) Trying to understand people who think differently than you rather than assume they are stupid.
Humility
Civility

You honestly thing these values are strong in our society?
1/6 of the people are taking Government handouts.
Our literacy rate is decreasing
Look at this message board if you want to see evidence of declining civility
Corruption exists throughout government and people don't care. Why? Because the people are corrupt.
The idea of personal integrity is a foreign concept to most people
General Apathy exists among our current society.

This is exactly why turning away from God ends up in bad results. Because the people end up losing their values and destroying one another.

 

[Dick Tuck]

not value this country and her culture

America has no discernable culture of its own. Besides, 99.9% of what "culture" we do have is created by those heathen, lefty artists, musicians and designers. OH... you meant "conservative" fake patriotism, shallow xtian "culture". Got it. No thanks. Lee Greenwood sucks.

Sadly, I must disagree. What we have as a culture is an anti-culture. Ignorant people are applauded for slashing an artwork they don't understand. What comprises our culture isn't art or music, it's corporate. Someone complained about all the bleeps on reality TV. That was created in a corporate board room that wants to sell things by using shock. Another aspect of culture, cuisine, has become shrink wrapped and supersized, leading into our becoming the most obese nation on earth. But that's not really a moral decline as much as it is the idiotic belief that more corporatism is better than real social constructs.

I wish we had a culture that actually valued aesthetics. We don't. The kids don't listen to the real hip hop artists or their poetic social critique. They listen to the sensationalized, manufactured version of a stereotype of some corporations view of the street.

 

[Avatar4321]

not value this country and her culture

America has no discernable culture of its own. Besides, 99.9% of what "culture" we do have is created by those heathen, lefty artists, musicians and designers. OH... you meant "conservative" fake patriotism, shallow xtian "culture". Got it. No thanks. Lee Greenwood sucks.

And yet America has the most dominant culture on earth. More countries copy American culture than any other

It happened with Greece, Rome, France, Germany, Great Britain, China. etc.

And how are all those cultures now?

 

[rightwinger]

File:US Violent Crime Rate.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the last 20 years, violent crime is down 40%, property crime is down 35%

Doesn't that reflect a culture that is more moral?

 

[Mr. Peepers]

Sadly, I must disagree. What we have as a culture is an anti-culture. Ignorant people are applauded for slashing an artwork they don't understand. What comprises our culture isn't art or music, it's corporate. Someone complained about all the bleeps on reality TV. That was created in a corporate board room that wants to sell things by using shock. Another aspect of culture, cuisine, has become shrink wrapped and supersized, leading into our becoming the most obese nation on earth. But that's not really a moral decline as much as it is the idiotic belief that more corporatism is better than real social constructs.

I wish we had a culture that actually valued aesthetics. We don't. The kids don't listen to the real hip hop artists or their poetic social critique. They listen to the sensationalized, manufactured version of a stereotype of some corporations view of the street.

I agree with you. Everything we do is only worth something if it has a huge dollar amount attached to it. What other country on earth treats its "food" production mainly as a commodity to be bought and sold, creating a glut of three things of negligible actual nutritional value and THEN using these products to make stuff that isn't even food - or feeding it to food animals who aren't supposed to eat it, become sick, are pumped full of drugs and THEN market it back to the people... as food? - AND THEY BUY IT???!!! I hate the corporatist, consumer-based stupidity of American "culture".

 

[rightwinger]

Values that have been Declining

Work ethic
Individual Responsibility
Individual charity
Honesty
Zeal for knowledge which includes:
a) Looking at original sources
b) Reading things you don't like
c) Trying to understand people who think differently than you rather than assume they are stupid.
Humility
Civility

You honestly thing these values are strong in our society?
1/6 of the people are taking Government handouts.
Our literacy rate is decreasing
Look at this message board if you want to see evidence of declining civility
Corruption exists throughout government and people don't care. Why? Because the people are corrupt.
The idea of personal integrity is a foreign concept to most people
General Apathy exists among our current society.

This is exactly why turning away from God ends up in bad results. Because the people end up losing their values and destroying one another.

First of all. Americans work more hours and are more productive than at any time in history.

You make broad claims that things have declined but can't point to a time we were more moral than today.

You talk of civility, humility, charity...

Was it civil to refuse to eat in the same restaurant as blacks? How about refusing to allow women to work in positions of responsibility?
Does it show humility to openly discriminate against other cultures or gays?
Did charity provide healthcare for those Americans who worked in low paying jobs?

I will take today over any period in American history and defend why we are more moral

 

[Vel]

So what is your baseline. To say that something is in decline, you really ought to baseline it against something. Do you really believe that we were a more moral people at other points of our history. I'd be interested to hear that argument articulated.

I'd say as a baseline you can look at our entertainment as one example. Have you watched a reality television show? The public delights in watching people just be nasty to one another. We seem to be missing more basic empathy and compassion in our everyday lives.

Yet in the days that June Cleaver vaccumed wearing pearls, spousal and child abuse was rampant, people were institutionally seperated by the color of their skin, churches were being bombed with children inside, people were being murdered for daring to try to register to vote, etc.. Nope, more romantic tripe. I could really care less if every other word out of Gordon Ramsey's mouth is a bleep. It's certainly a hell of a lot better than banning books like Catcher In The Rye and Irma La Duce. I'd rather hear some foul mouth rant than the days when a public lynching was a cause for a family picinic.

And in today's world spousal and child abuse are still rampant, people are still separated by the color of their skin ( congressional black caucus for example ), public buildings are being bombed by hijacked planes with children inside, young people are being murdered for simply walking down the wrong street wearing the wrong color clothes ( gang warfare ) and now men and women will walk by those victimized by others, averting their eyes so as not to be involved. We don't have to worry too much about family picnics these days because about half of our children are being raised by single parents who don't have time to attend an event with them.

 

[rightwinger]

America has no discernable culture of its own. Besides, 99.9% of what "culture" we do have is created by those heathen, lefty artists, musicians and designers. OH... you meant "conservative" fake patriotism, shallow xtian "culture". Got it. No thanks. Lee Greenwood sucks.

And yet America has the most dominant culture on earth. More countries copy American culture than any other

It happened with Greece, Rome, France, Germany, Great Britain, China. etc.

And how are all those cultures now?

Last I checked...they are still there

 

[del]

Can you provide any data that there has been a Moral Decline?

If so, can you prove that it affected the economy?

Rightwinger.. You're welcome to spend the day chasing data as you please, but I don't choose to do so. This is an OPINION piece and one that I happen to agree with. Unlike you, I don't need a stack of data to validate my opinion to myself.

As I suspected..

You have nothing to base your OPINION on

Where is the moral decline? What has declined? What possible impact could it have on the economy?

Simple questions. If you have an OPINION that morality has declined, your opinion must have some basis

must you be a complete tool?

 

[rightwinger]

Rightwinger.. You're welcome to spend the day chasing data as you please, but I don't choose to do so. This is an OPINION piece and one that I happen to agree with. Unlike you, I don't need a stack of data to validate my opinion to myself.

As I suspected..

You have nothing to base your OPINION on

Where is the moral decline? What has declined? What possible impact could it have on the economy?

Simple questions. If you have an OPINION that morality has declined, your opinion must have some basis

must you be a complete tool?

I'll make the same offer to you del

Provide some details as to why you think morality has declined and we can talk

 

[del]

As I suspected..

You have nothing to base your OPINION on

Where is the moral decline? What has declined? What possible impact could it have on the economy?

Simple questions. If you have an OPINION that morality has declined, your opinion must have some basis

must you be a complete tool?

I'll make the same offer to you del

Provide some details as to why you think morality has declined and we can talk

provide some details on why you think i think morality has declined and we can talk.

the only opinion that i've expressed in this thread is that you're being a complete tool. i base that on your posts in this thread, so i assume it's okay with you if i have an opinion? i know you've set rigorous standards for the privilege.

 

[rightwinger]

must you be a complete tool?

I'll make the same offer to you del

Provide some details as to why you think morality has declined and we can talk

provide some details on why you think i think morality has declined and we can talk.

the only opinion that i've expressed in this thread is that you're being a complete tool. i base that on your posts in this thread, so i assume it's okay with you if i have an opinion? i know you've set rigorous standards for the privilege.

In that case....I agree with you

 

[Missourian]

May 17, 2010

Americans' Outlook for U.S. Morality Remains Bleak

Three-quarters say moral values in U.S. are getting worse

by Jeffrey M. Jones

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are three times more likely to describe the current state of moral values in the United States as "poor" than as "excellent" or "good." Americans' assessment of U.S. morality has never been positive, but the current ratings rank among the worst Gallup has measured over the past nine years.

Additionally, Gallup's annual poll on moral values, conducted May 3-6, finds 76% of Americans saying moral values in the United States are getting worse; while 14% say they are getting better. Last year saw a slight improvement in these attitudes -- with 21% saying values were getting better -- but opinion has since reverted to near 2006-2008 levels.


Americans? Outlook for U.S. Morality Remains Bleak

It merely shows that Americans THINK moral values have declined without defining what moral values that may be or providing any basis of fact

Take off your blinders man, they believe it because they SEE it with their own eyes.