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Sat on a Trailways bus filled with college kids several months ago.....they were polite, thoughtful, and well-mannered. When I was in college back in the 80s riding that type of bus was by & large akin to being in a zoo from what I remember. It's a mixed bag out there. No generation has a hold on being mean IMO.
Got to spread the reps, before I can rep you again....
We are staring straight down the barrel of a very bloody and strange civil war.
It is becoming more apparent, that this was the plan all along, when Obama took the office.
Is there any doubt that the internet, social media and 24/7 news has made most people more aware of crime?
Regardless, here are the peak years for crime over the past 50 years:
I think people are meaner today, and we're making mean kids. No, I'm not talking about yours. Most women work outside the home today, and we try to make up for the lack of time spent with our kids by buying them more and more, to excess. I know I've been guilty of this. The discipline is nowhere near what it was when I was a child. We didn't dare say a "bad" word. Look at the way kids treat their parents on reality shows, or any show for that matter. If they say something rude to them or even to their guests, the parents smile and say " Susie has a bad mouth sometimes." I would have had my tail busted for being rude to a guest. Most of us are dealing with an overflowing plate working, grocery shopping, cooking, dealing with school activities, cleaning, and the list goes on. We don't feel like being as nice because we're so tired and it's expensive keeping up with the Jones, so some of us even have 2 jobs.
I never even heard of road rage years ago. People are beating up others for cutting in line! More people are on hard drugs, so we have more stealing and robbing. There are a lot of gangs who are very dangerous. I never heard of gangs when I was younger. There are more scams than ever before.
The economy is terrible, house & apartment payments are through the roof. To stay halfway comfortable in the summers, we have to pay $600.00/month just for the electric bill, and our AC runs from April ( we try to wait until April, but usually turn it on in March) through October, and sometimes November. A lot of us have financial issues, and we all have emergencies that are hard to prepare for. We've had so many, we've had to use all of our savings, and get loans for them.
We've had to buy 2 vehicles in 2 months. My husband and I both have had an operation in the past year, and even though we have insurance, we still owe thousands out of our own pockets. We all know medical costs have more than tripled, including you dentists.
Everybody has their hand out for something. I know we don't have to give anything, and we don't give to as many charities as we used to because we now know that the people who run the charities make huge salaries and the causes get a lot less. There's a convenience store near my home who has a jar with some kids pictures on it, and the cashiers are told to ask everyone if they will donate their change to "the kids". I asked 2 different cashiers what "kids" cause it was for, and neither one of them knew. They said they hadn't been told that. We used to donate to a "police organization" mainly to get off the phone. After years of this, we read in the paper that it was for big parties with catered food and alcohol they needed because they need to "relax". Well, I need to relax too, but no one sends me to a spa or has a party for me. ( I know, poor pitiful me )
All of these things and more have made me jaded. I'm not as tolerant as I was. I'm so impatient. We are more progressive, but yes, we are meaner now.
I feel like a lot of the "niceness" today is a fake nice. Many people will be nice to your face, then turn around and backstab you or make fun of you behind your back. So no, I don't think people are nicer today. Just because people are less racist and are more respectful towards gays doesn't make them nicer.
Also 50 years ago younger people had more respect for their elders. Today's kids are disrespectful and the teachers are pretty much babysitters. I think most people wouldn't dare act up at school 50 years ago.
Definitely a lot more meaner, especially the women of today. And now with much more women today that are very high maintenance, independent, selfish, spoiled, and very greedy, really speaks for itself.
In America in the 1960s more people were racist and homophobic (at least openly), everyone smoked everywhere and things like bullying and child/spouse abuse were either swept under the rug or tolerated as part of life. People generally trusted the government, corporations, and unions and lived in small, tight-knit communities. Road rage was not something people even had a term for.
Fast forward to the 2010s and smoking is illegal almost everywhere (yet the public oddly is much more pro-weed), allegations of racism will ruin your career, gays are increasingly accepted, and most people are of the mind that if someone is a bully or abuser they basically deserve to die or be thrown in a dungeon. The question is does this mean we are more compassionate and empathetic or simply less forgiving? Perhaps a bit of both? It seems like we have gone from one extreme (tolerating beaters, molesters, bullies, etc) to another (wanting to bring back medieval punishments for such individuals). People are also hypocrites and much more forgiving of those who are wealthy's mistakes, aside from a few sacred demons like OJ Simpson who everybody loves to hate. Miles Davis beat women yet he's seen as a musical god, if he was just some average person though people would want him in prison or put to death.
One thing I find interesting is that even though the support for war has declined and the faith in pretty much every major pillar (government, religion, national identity, business) has fallen people still have an almost fascist admiration for the military. You see it in football games, on radio stations during Christmas, pretty much everywhere. The idea that the troops are protecting our freedom has been repeated so many times people absolutely believe it is true. And the idea that guns protect our freedom and that killing bad guys is the greatest thing a person can do is vindicated by our Hollywood movies.
When was the last time you ever watched a movie with a pacifist or anti-war message? Even in Avatar the message was ultimately pro war as the Navi are celebrated as heroes for fighting back the humans and the protagonist is a Marine, albeit one who changed sides.
One thing that really bothers me is road rage. I don't drive myself, but when I am in the car with my brother I am sometimes frightened by how angry other drivers make him. I feel like telling him he's an idiot for flipping people off. It's probably not a good idea to risk starting something with someone who is mean enough to cut you off on purpose. It doesn't surprise me at all that people have been murdered over road rage. Did this happen in the 1960s, or are people so frazzled and isolated from others that it's a fairly new phenomenon?
Anyways sorry for rambling on, but what do you think? Are people nicer or meaner than they were 50 years ago? Are we more patient, forgiving, compassionate, and just? Or less so?
Intolerance has increased as social justice creates enemies to validate their agenda.
Sure there was less acceptance of unique lifestyles and race, it was institutionalized. You want to call that 'mean'? Today 'mean' might better be assigned to widespread physical violence.
Violence today is institutionalized in the media that impacts our culture. The dramatic evolution in communications has become the insect vector that carries the disease.
In the 50s and 60s more people had access to guns and a single murder would make headlines. Gun violence was rare. Boy scout manual had 11 pages of ads for guns and hatchets. Today with stricter gun laws more people are killed everyday.
So the difference lies not in access to firearms but a changing culture that fosters physical violence.
Definitely a lot more meaner, especially the women of today. And now with much more women today that are very high maintenance, independent, selfish, spoiled, and very greedy, really speaks for itself.
I just can't stand how thin-skinned people have become.
Everything is offensive to everyone.
It's become so ridiculous.
Grow a spine and move on.
I watch the news and see all these headlines about people being outraged or offended by nearly every little thing. Suing, protesting, boycotting this that and the other. Really?
The war on this the war on that.
Stop it already. It seems society has become obsessed with finding things to be offended by.
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Most women work outside the home today, and we try to make up for the lack of time spent with our kids by buying them more and more, to excess. I know I've been guilty of this. The discipline is nowhere near what it was when I was a child. We didn't dare say a "bad" word. Look at the way kids treat their parents on reality shows, or any show for that matter. If they say something rude to them or even to their guests, the parents smile and say " Susie has a bad mouth sometimes." I would have had my tail busted for being rude to a guest. Most of us are dealing with an overflowing plate working, grocery shopping, cooking, dealing with school activities, cleaning, and the list goes on. We don't feel like being as nice because we're so tired and it's expensive keeping up with the Jones, so some of us even have 2 jobs. 
