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Everyone I talk to complains about the sick American culture. They say America and its society and culture has hit a new low and we are dying as a country. They bring up the crazy things on TV, popular culture, drugs, failing schools, obesity, our failing economy, drug use, violence, children born into one parent households, etc, etc.
Yes, America and its society has serious problems but is our culture and society really that much sicker than any time in our past?
This whole "society is dying" thing is just some false reminiscent fallacy by the Limbaugh types, as though people had never picked up prostitutes, done drugs, gotten drunk, or exposed themselves before 1992. Anyone that disgarees with that, I would encourage them to read a book called "City of Eros" by Tim Gilfoyle.
If your values/morals/ethics tend toward the ideals of our traditional civilization, we are in a shamble. If you buy into the subjective and mobile it's-all-good values/morals/ethics developed within the the past 50 years, everything is peachy.
One problem is that we are here and now. We have no way of really knowing the past, other than second-hand sources, which tend to be idealized and/or romanticized. We can't really know how 'people were' 200 years ago. Or 500 years ago. Or 1000 years ago. I think if we could, we'd truly be shocked.
we must have progressed a little since roman times, since now we fake murder and death as entertainment instead of throwing live christians in front of hungry lions.
I don't think its really sicker. It does have more people in capable of takign care of tehemselves and dependent on the government or actaully other taxpayers. With the stas showing that 50% pay no income tax and 69% get more services than they pay for it can't work for mu8ch longer like that.
yes, america isnt what it used to be. But its mostly because there's a recessioon...but i think people used to be more proud to be american. The country isnt as patriotic i feel. And obama is ruining capitalism. Thats really what america stood for. When all powerful countries were monarchs, America was democratic and capitalist. People came to the country to be successful. People pity the people who arent wealthy even though they have the chance to be so....thats why they come to america to struggle at the beginning but give their children better lives.
And now people have to be politicaly correct and accept untraditional things. If someone doesnt approve of gay marriage/sex changes/single mothers they are considered hateful people. I heard june is LGBT month. Why do we need a month to celebrate them?
It sounds like your friends/neighbors/colleagues (or whoever "everyone" is) is a pretty skewed sampling. I know some people feel like that, but many others think that the US is a pretty good place today, or at least no worse than in the past.
I agree 100% with the poster who noted that instant communication means people more aware of what's going on. On the other hand, the increased segregation of the media also makes it very easy to only listen to the news and opinions from those who share your opinion. There's also evidence that people are increasingly living in more segregated neighborhoods - not necssarily along racial lines, but along economic lines and political/cultural opinion lines. In other words, it's easy to surround yourself with people who think the same way, and therefore easier to demonize the people who feel otherwise.
The US is much better today for some people, although for others it's probably worse. I have a feeling that my concerns about America's problems (or at least some of them) are different than those expressed by the friends of the OP, though. The USA is far from perfect, and there are a lot of things that could be vastly improved, but on the other hand, at least we've made some progress on some of the big problems faced by earlier generations.
I disagree with the poster who said that we can only know about the past through second-hand sources. By definition a second hand source is another researcher; primary source materials can include written documents dating from older periods, or can include things like archaeological evidence. We may not "know" things 100%, but we can have a fairly good idea. Overall I think most Americans would be well-served by spending more time studying the past; it helps put modern issues into a bigger context. It makes one realize that any reference to ""traditional" culture or days gone by as being some sort of utopia is a fantasy.
Everyone I talk to complains about the sick American culture. They say America and its society and culture has hit a new low and we are dying as a country. They bring up the crazy things on TV, popular culture, drugs, failing schools, obesity, our failing economy, drug use, violence, children born into one parent households, etc, etc.
Yes, America and its society has serious problems but is our culture and society really that much sicker than any time in our past?
If the United States is so bad than why do we have the largest population of illegal immigrants in the world ? Obviously they think the U.S has more to offer them than their home country. I don't see millions of Americans leaving the U.S every year to start a better life in a different country.
How many Americans do you think would trade the U.S for Iran, North Korea, Somalia, Pakistan, or Cuba for example ?
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