There is a general lack of respect in society today
- Thread starter Bretrick
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JBR
Senior Member
"People and what they do are easily understood" ?? I think that isn't always the case.
"For every leaking Stainless milk bucket there is a guy who can patch it." There's much truth & broad application to that. I think it's a worthy attitude & practice.
this is complex but there have been amazingly massive changes in lifestyles since the end of WWII - it is a different world - family structures have changed from extended to nuclear - family relationships and controls have change - yes the internet has changed us and may have speeded up the brains of youngsters that they no longer have patience ? - but can we blame the internet which we enjoy also or should we be challenging family structures and controls and responsibilities to our societies? Women have more equal rights - good - but children can now ask for sex changes ???
I recently heard that the once great city of Liverpool - remember the Beatles has been run by govt from afar not the Liverpool city bunch for five years because of corruption and ineptitude - there is a malaise creeping about and its worldwide - the poor and starving are being to push against their borders and want to come in with us the richer nations and share what we have. Complex societal changes which all require rethinking by state govts and local govts - the stirring mechanism of our countries has become dysfunctional and needs mending or replacing? IMO
I recently heard that the once great city of Liverpool - remember the Beatles has been run by govt from afar not the Liverpool city bunch for five years because of corruption and ineptitude - there is a malaise creeping about and its worldwide - the poor and starving are being to push against their borders and want to come in with us the richer nations and share what we have. Complex societal changes which all require rethinking by state govts and local govts - the stirring mechanism of our countries has become dysfunctional and needs mending or replacing? IMO
That's true. People don't even have respect for the elderly or older folks. I am always pleasantly surprised when someone does something kind towards me. There's no respect for people who are ill anymore either. I must say though that there are still good people who do the right thing.
carouselsilver
Member
- Location
- Eastern PA
I thought I would share a time when I was pleasantly surprised by respectful behavior. It was about 30 years ago, so I wasn't senior yet. I had a bad case of sciatica, but wanted to attend a function at a nearby college. Maya Angelou was coming to speak there, and I didn't want to miss it, so I took my cane with me. I was late and the auditorium was packed. Dismayed, I was about to hobble over to where people were standing against the wall, when several people saw me and simultaneously rose from their seats to offer me theirs. I was so touched that I nearly cried. I was so pleasantly surprised! Even now, that memory warms me.
I'm glad to hear you were treated so well. There still are helpful, caring people out there
Warrigal
SF VIP
- Location
- Sydney, Australia
That has always been my experience. It still is.I'm glad to hear you were treated so well. There still are helpful, caring people out there
VisualBrian
Member
Mike drop... goodnight... AWESOME insight!!!
Paco Dennis
SF VIP
- Location
- Mid-Missouri
Yes @fuzzybuddy has acute insight here. But, we are not finished yet. What if our species is evolving faster than usual. The rate of adaptation has increased and will continue to increase. We will adapt or perish. Those who try to hold on to the past are done for...there is too much very deep changes that are occurring and there needs to be fresh vessels to understand these changes. Some will survive, the rest will not. It's no big deal. Everyone dies. why should we care?
VisualBrian
Member
Sorry, but I don't understand. What is the "usual" rate of evolution for our species? What is the rate of adaption and what should it be? Obviously we will adapt or perish but the platitudes have no meaning to me. There was no mention of death here but only human attitudes.
Paco Dennis
SF VIP
- Location
- Mid-Missouri
Human attitudes are in major flux now. That is what is changing, rapidly. By observing nature, we know it adapts, or not, to changes in its environment. The environment, everywhere, is in massive and rapid change. One only need to observe their surroundings. We also are becoming very aware that it is becoming increasingly difficult to have our basic needs met. It will take a revolution of attitude for all people. We will have to learn to live without having our basic needs met. I don't care what anyone calls this transition, but it is here.
I saw this coming 40 years ago and got out of the rat race. I joined a community and have lived below the poverty line all these years. I have no personal property, except a car worth about $800. I get $800 a month from SS ( the 15 years I worked in society). Not much, but I don't buy nothing we don't have to have. Now it is upon us...( I won't go into all the massive crisis we are experiencing now )
but they have come together to create a collision of forces that are much bigger than mankind can deal with. I am situated far from civilization, and plan on staying away from it all. Not for everyone for sure, not really for very many folk...and that is where the problem is. The inability to change and adjust our attitudes.
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I think COVID accelerated things in many different ways. Things that eventually would have happened without COVID did happen quicker because of COVID. Kind of threw things off kilter if that makes sense.
officerripley
Well-known Member
- Location
- Porlock, Calif
So true.
VisualBrian
Member
For the sake of this discussion let us agree that a revolution is coming or necessary. What would it be a revolution against, nature, our attitude or those in charge? Please describe this transition that is here.
Well we should go back as far as we can and look at written evidence of societal behaviors - take the bible for example - a good read from the old testament first will give you some clues until you get to the new and then there are of course the great tomes of buddhism and hindhism and who was that great sage in China who wrote a general management for good clean living - so I see waves of achieving good behaviors and then maybe descending into bad like perhaps the current times and then ascending back into good. It doesn't need to be and probably isn't linear??
Mr. Ed
Be what you is not what you what you ain’t
- Location
- Central NY
Paco Dennis
SF VIP
- Location
- Mid-Missouri
I define revolution as an abrupt end to the way things operate, and a new way/method of organizing the way things operate. It doesn't mean "against" anything. This revolution will force our world to cooperate with nature, and each other, rather than use both to get ahead. We are so spoiled by the ease at which we believe we are being fed, while we are being fed crap that is destroying us. The powers that be care only about profit, not well-being. It is planned obsolescence. As we become weaker, the more we will have to rely on the only sources we have at our disposal to survive. We are stuck in a machinery that is churning out profits not well-being.
I am not being intentionally vague, but what you are asking is not going to be answered by a definitive list we can check off, as we accomplish fixing the mess. This will have no lists. It will entail a new consciousness about what is really important in life. It will not be, my team is gonna win, we are entitled to a prosperous lifestyle, sweep the "small" problems under the rug, or our future is totally secure.
None of those things are going to last very long anymore. The change will be the ability to be content with very little, knowing that other people will be taken care of because hoarding has come to an end. If we don't stop hoarding, we have maybe 20 years left. Either we change or perish. You can't have resources that don't exist.
VaughanJB
Scrappy VIP
Well, a lot comes from what passes as "Parenting" these days. When I was a child, even speaking to a cop was scary. Today? They get dogs abuse.
But what actually bothers me more is when people scream about their "rights", when what they really mean is, I have all the rights, and you have none. Meaning, if someone has the "right" to do something, the affect it has on others is irrelevant. Their rights trump everyone else's. Which, when you think about it, is the essence of societal rules. We sometimes don't smoke in place A, because although we have the "right" to do it, it might deny others the right to be a smoke free area.
Today, there's too much "Me, me, me, me......" without concern on others around us.
I think that starts at home. We taught our kids to say yes sir and yes mam, to write thank you notes, and to defer to elders. I see that showing in grand children now. It surprises me when a young person in a store reaches something on a high shelf for someone or says thank you for your service. I was taught to open the door for ladies, say good morning, and pick things up if someone dropped an item. In Tennessee it isn't a law, but people on the road meeting a funeral procession stop and pull to the shoulder till the last car passes. Just a sign of respect.
I was thinking the same thing while listening to a local news story about a trans athlete who wants to play on the girls team even though the boys team would accept this person. So, this person was yelling about his/her TRUTH and we must respect his/her truth despite the fact it was screwing things up for a whole lot of folks and I thought, "your TRUTH has no right to trample over everyone else." Aren't there any things an individual must give up anymore?
Social media. Makes every dope think they trump society. My BFF finds my modern reasoning astonishing, but way back when I had more energy.
Paco Dennis
SF VIP
- Location
- Mid-Missouri
It sounds like you had a respectful family/parents. Good for you. Very few kids these days have this. So much has changed. Just the pace of our society is a hassle. Plus we have mass media that cultivates the people's behavior. It's not the same world we grew up in.
I don't mean to sound like a broken record but while I was being raised to have proper manners, I do believe that the elders at that time were saying the same thing about my generation. Weren't those who were in their 60's and 70's back in the 1960's looking down at our generation for lacking any type of respect and manners for the norms set by their generation ?
I do remember a time in my early years when people would dress up to take a flight on a jet, attend a sporting even or go to church. By the time I reached my teen years that was starting to change. By the time the 80's rolled around it was very rare to see anyone dressed up on a flight unless it was a businessman. Those attending church started to dress more casually. I realize that this may have nothing to do with manners but it certainly was a change in what was considered a respect for society at the time.
I am old enough to remember when people use to throw trash out of the car window when on the road. People leaving trash in the park without any thought of picking it up. I know it's just a fictional TV Show but Mad Men has a famous scene about that. Thankfully that behavior did start to change in the late 60's (Give a Hoot) and that type of behavior was no longer tolerated. Sadly, I do think that things are starting to revert on that subject.
I smoked back in the 70's and 80's and never gave it a thought that my smoking on an airplane or in a restaurant. I didn't stop that behavior until it was outlawed. Looking back though I do recognize that it was very rude of me. I did not take into consideration how much my smoke might have bothered those who did not smoke or who were sensitive to the smoke. Was it the norm then ? Yes, but it does not mean it was right.
I was raised like many of us to open the door for women, pull out a chair for women, and many other things. I still do those things but at the same time I feel awkward at times doing so now because there are women now who feel that those actions are patronizing towards them and I respect their viewpoint. Will a time come when that tradition is no longer followed ? Perhaps. I do not think it is a right or wrong type of situation. I think that if it does happen, it is just a social norm that has changed, like so many have.
The examples that were listed in the OP are good examples of not respecting society and I am offended when people do such things. But people dumping unwanted items in vacant lots is nothing new, at least where I live. I remember when it was not uncommon to see people use the desert as their own personal trash dumps. I think it's horrible when people ignore the handicap parking sign. But there have always been a percentage of people who are just outright rude.
I have rambled on too long. I know that my opinion is not popular but I think that this "change" in society norms started long before many people give it credit for. And yes, people certainly have more freedom to be rude and obnoxious because of social media. Things are said that would never be said in a public forum. I guess the main point I am trying to say with my rambling is yes, it is easy for us to say that there is a general lack of respect in society today but I am pretty sure that if there was a "SeniorForum" platform in the 60's that there would be a similar topic being discussed at that time regarding my generation.
I do remember a time in my early years when people would dress up to take a flight on a jet, attend a sporting even or go to church. By the time I reached my teen years that was starting to change. By the time the 80's rolled around it was very rare to see anyone dressed up on a flight unless it was a businessman. Those attending church started to dress more casually. I realize that this may have nothing to do with manners but it certainly was a change in what was considered a respect for society at the time.
I am old enough to remember when people use to throw trash out of the car window when on the road. People leaving trash in the park without any thought of picking it up. I know it's just a fictional TV Show but Mad Men has a famous scene about that. Thankfully that behavior did start to change in the late 60's (Give a Hoot) and that type of behavior was no longer tolerated. Sadly, I do think that things are starting to revert on that subject.
I smoked back in the 70's and 80's and never gave it a thought that my smoking on an airplane or in a restaurant. I didn't stop that behavior until it was outlawed. Looking back though I do recognize that it was very rude of me. I did not take into consideration how much my smoke might have bothered those who did not smoke or who were sensitive to the smoke. Was it the norm then ? Yes, but it does not mean it was right.
I was raised like many of us to open the door for women, pull out a chair for women, and many other things. I still do those things but at the same time I feel awkward at times doing so now because there are women now who feel that those actions are patronizing towards them and I respect their viewpoint. Will a time come when that tradition is no longer followed ? Perhaps. I do not think it is a right or wrong type of situation. I think that if it does happen, it is just a social norm that has changed, like so many have.
The examples that were listed in the OP are good examples of not respecting society and I am offended when people do such things. But people dumping unwanted items in vacant lots is nothing new, at least where I live. I remember when it was not uncommon to see people use the desert as their own personal trash dumps. I think it's horrible when people ignore the handicap parking sign. But there have always been a percentage of people who are just outright rude.
I have rambled on too long. I know that my opinion is not popular but I think that this "change" in society norms started long before many people give it credit for. And yes, people certainly have more freedom to be rude and obnoxious because of social media. Things are said that would never be said in a public forum. I guess the main point I am trying to say with my rambling is yes, it is easy for us to say that there is a general lack of respect in society today but I am pretty sure that if there was a "SeniorForum" platform in the 60's that there would be a similar topic being discussed at that time regarding my generation.