Again, I thank each of you that contributed in a positive way to help sort this out. I don't know that I feel better about what's ahead if we stay on this trajectory, but reading the well considered responses leads me to believe that after it gets worse, we still have level heads among us that will prevail.
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Originally Posted by Dopo
The day the media and some people started saying that intelligence is bad and people should be proud of their dumb ideas.
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Like you, I have been concerned about how our compasses as a people seem to be pointing south in that regard. It's one of the reasons I am particularly concerned. We cannot progress in our character development unless we have positive role models to guide us along our paths, and if our role models are ignorant, vicious people our youth see those as their model to follow. Most of us that are older, raised to respect discipline, diligence in pursuit of knowledge, and concern for others know that vicious ignorance only destroys.
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Originally Posted by hawkeye2009
When we stopped making kids and teenagers have jobs and allowed them to be addicted to video games. Couple that with single parent families, in which the parent does not have or they do not care to devote time to the kids and you have a cultural disaster. I paid for my clothes, food, transportation, and incidentals from age 12. I had a paper route at age 9. Kids need some structure and responsibilities outside of school and the home to help them mature.
You mature and grow via enduring conflict, loss, despair, and deprivation. Experiencing such situations and having the strength to continue pursuing one's goals is what makes people adults who are responsible, dedicated, and have empathy for others. In short, getting your butt kicked many times when you are younger is very instructional and prepares one for future challenges.
Liberalism is essentially a reversion to childhood and vacating individual responsibility. When we have adults embracing such lunacy, they will certainly transfers those maladaptive traits to their children.
We need a good old fashioned economic depression to force a few generations to grow up and appreciate the benefits of work and faith. This may be one of the few positives attributes of Biden, who appears to be guiding the nation to rocks and economic catastrophe.
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I agree with your first two paragraphs, but do not share your definition of liberalism, and I tend to think that our broadened gap between the haves and the have nots is contributing to the situation.
I don't recall that its been mentioned it in this post, but do think that our failing school system and the subsequent disenfranchisement of the poor has caused them to lose respect for the systems in place. Because poor neighborhoods do not get properly funded school budgets, and the rich have gutted the tax revenues to retain their wealth, there are fewer opportunities available for the poor to improve their situations. To further that, some states have pushed the poor, usually people of color, off the voting roles by reducing the number of polling place in poor communities.
Sharing in the nation's amassed wealth and restoring rights to everyone, not just those blessed with economic wealth is a better solution (IMO) than pushing everyone into penury.
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Originally Posted by Mathguy
Keep in mind that with the mass expansion of the media and harsh competition for ratings that you're no longer dealing with professional news coverage but rather a free-for-all of sensationalism and showing the worst behaviors.
In many regards, you have to ask yourself how much has anything changed as opposed to how much the worst behaviors are being thrust upon you to observe?
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Yes, I do know that, and am constantly warning others that to even click on a "news" source headline is a vote of approval. It's all click bait anymore. One wise person here recommended returning to printed newspapers. I think that is a good suggestion.
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Originally Posted by MPowering1
To add to what Mathguy has said, and I'm directing this to the OP, every time you turn on a cable news network, you support incivility. If you don't watch cable news, that's great!
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Not just cable news, either. It's one reason I left facebook months ago: one day I realized that just being curious about what is being said and clicking was telling facebook I wanted to see more of that. I deleted my account, even though it meant that I reduced my ability to see what friends and family far from me are up to doing.
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Originally Posted by concreteblonde
I did say that first we needed to overcome the relationship between major corporations and our government, thus making ourselves relevant as voters again. It's easier for politicians to finance their campaigns and win elections through corporate contributions than it is to appeal to millions of voters. So the system never really changes and our quality of life suffers for it adding to our antagonism towards what we see as "the other side" while the political elite treat their constituents with something akin to contempt. As long as we behave hateful towards each other this will become the status quo. It's unnecessary. But it does seem that many actually thrive on their hatred for anyone who opposes their views.
Currently we are in a crisis which may help us to build bridges towards betterment as we find more common ground in our relationships as human beings. In short, we need to be farsighted and see ourselves as the same again. We ARE all Americans. That's a large plus to have in common.
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From what I've read of the responses here, I know that you and the other contributors have given this a lot of thought, and mostly I agree what has been said.
In my mid-60s, and having always been intellectually interested in interactions between people, groups, and organizations, it's been my conclusion that amassed wealth in this country has contributed to the digression of our society. Frankly, some people have personality that enables them to amass wealth that others do not. I'm starting to wonder if it isn't money that is the root of evil, but greed and ego. I am beginning to think that one cannot have a capitalist democracy, because there is too big of an opportunity to cut the poor out of their political rights.
What I DO know, is that suppressed people may acquiesce for a time -- even a long time, but once they start getting angry, all sense of safety and stability goes out the window.
We only have to look at the history of our nation, and others that followed us, particularly France, and then Russia. I personally fear that because of our inequality of access to opportunities here, and the rising public anger we see, we could very well reach a dangerous tipping point. Sadly, the leadership of both political parties are so confident in themselves (EGO) and getting their portions off the top (GREED), they could be thought of much like monarchies vying for supremacy, ignoring the plight of their constituents. Aren't most of us being taxed without representation?
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