Is society, in general, becoming TOO tolerant?

mitchezz said:
While there's many aspects of behaviour that I don't agree with my attitude is as long as it doesn't hurt or interfere with other's safety or enjoyment of life I turn a blind eye. Too many people have too much interest in other people's bedrooms and lives. Live and let live.
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....my thoughts also.
 

No one seems to want to take responsibility for their actions frequently using phrases like "I had to do it because" when in fact they voluntarily chose to do it. The victim card seems to come out pretty fast even from those who shouldn't be playing it. Everyone thinks they are entitled to the celebrity rehab tour.
 
mitchezz said:
While there's many aspects of behaviour that I don't agree with my attitude is as long as it doesn't hurt or interfere with others safety or enjoyment of life I turn a blind eye. Too many people have too much interest in other people's bedrooms and lives. Live and let live.
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Not sure why religions got in to the bedroom in such a big way. I feel integrity is important. People should just try and not hurt one and other. Other wise don't sweat the small stuff.
 
Can't lie I grew up a slave to the no white and other such binders and still struggle with a few, out of habit. What can I say I also worked in the fashion industry for quite some time. Not proud of the it, nor completely ashamed just the way I was brought up to view clothing for a time. Definitely not the most important thing on my agenda these days to worry over though. Living in Florida I sometimes toss all clothing rules to the wind. Except white shoes, not even all that fond of white shoes. :playful:
 
I went through a white-shoe phase in high school - white foam stacks. They had a 3" foam heel ("marshmallows". we called them) that allowed me to bounce all around town.

I'm not proud of that phase, but it was what it was for the times.

And ... whenever it rained those suckers were slippery as all get-out! :(
 
Those two were unconventional in most everything they did. However, in present day, white has become more acceptable as a fashion statement. There isn't a rule about it so much anymore, just some people have old habits, but, too likely you won't see as many people stepping out in a pair of white shoes, just not something that is common yesteryear or today for whatever reason. So where white head to toe if one wants no hard fast rule, no rule at all these days, where what you want wear shorts in the snow, parkas and snowboots in the summer :D
 
I think we are doing just fine. We've had a few thousand years of "You can't do that, I don't like the way you look, and you're not one of us! I think a little redress is in order. As an 80 plusser, I remember the really old "good old days". They weren't. Other than being poor, I was lucky to be born into the acceptable class, but I was aware of all of the injustice and cruelty even as a kid.

I always cringed when they played the hit tune "I don't want her. You can have her. She's too fat for me!" How cruel was that for all those little fat girls out there when they played that! Not funny!

I remember men always wore straw hats and white "Palm Beach" suits July 1st to Sept 1st. Part of it made sense. There was no air conditioning and the light, white material was a plus in the Summer. The rituals extended to the house. The carpet was picked up, beaten and stored, and braided rugs were put down for the Summer. Very hard on a little kids knees! Some of it had to do with dirt. Coal was burnt and soot was everywhere.

If you live in the US, fat is not the "last acceptable prejudice". Try being a non-believer. Although the most rapidly growing group according to all of the religious polls, Atheists are still the most hated group in the country and can not legally run for office in a number of states.

Not there yet, but I like where we are going. Not time to hit the brakes.
 
debodun said:
It seems to me that people are much more liberal (not necessarily political) than they were 50 years ago. Media and schools keep the drumbeat of being more accepting of other people's lifestyles and origins. Where do you think the line should be drawn? (i.e. child abusers, fatties, people that wear white after summer is over, etc.)?

BTW - this question does not necessarily reflect my stance.
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To answer your question my answer is "yes." The foul language that is used today by most all ages has in my opinion, gone too far. It gripes me to no end to watch people in the news that live in this country to burn the U.S. flag. I passed by a school yesterday and saw two kids exchange the "number 1" sign to each other (and it's just not kids that do this) while shouting obscenities at each other, too many gun permits being issued for even the slightest of reason and I have several more, but yes, I do believe we have become more tolerant and with state and federal courts interpreting the constitution to their liking makes tolerance even more likely to continue to happen.

I remember back when I started out as a rookie Trooper for the PA State Police, I was called to a playground by a homeowner that lived next door to it. His complaint was that the boys on the basketball court were yelling "F" bombs at each other and it was so loud that his wife and him would not sit out on the front porch. I addressed the situation with the boys and afterwards everything went well. In today's world, even with a sign posted stating, Vulgar language will not be tolerated" depending on the community's statutes, there may be nothing a police office can do to quash it.
 
AZ Jim said:
Words don't cause bodily harm. They are just words.
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Gee, Jim, did you think of that all by yourself? I have investigated numerous assaults and batteries that started out with only words being said. You need to walk a mile in my shoes and find out what can happen when people say the wrong words to the the wrong person.

OK, Jim, you may have the last word.
 
911 said:
To answer your question my answer is "yes." The foul language that is used today by most all ages has in my opinion, gone too far. It gripes me to no end to watch people in the news that live in this country to burn the U.S. flag. I passed by a school yesterday and saw two kids exchange the "number 1" sign to each other (and it's just not kids that do this) while shouting obscenities at each other, too many gun permits being issued for even the slightest of reason and I have several more, but yes, I do believe we have become more tolerant and with state and federal courts interpreting the constitution to their liking makes tolerance even more likely to continue to happen.

I remember back when I started out as a rookie Trooper for the PA State Police, I was called to a playground by a homeowner that lived next door to it. His complaint was that the boys on the basketball court were yelling "F" bombs at each other and it was so loud that his wife and him would not sit out on the front porch. I addressed the situation with the boys and afterwards everything went well. In today's world, even with a sign posted stating, Vulgar language will not be tolerated" depending on the community's statutes, there may be nothing a police office can do to quash it.
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Cursing in public is protected by Freedom of Speech, unless the profanity is used in statements to incite a riot or instigate fighting. That's the way I understand it. Also people flipping each other the bird is very commonplace, has been for years, I don't read too much into either of these things.

I can't believe somebody called the cops to a playground because the F bomb was being thrown back and forth, that's a chance you take living next to a schoolyard or playground, it's nice that you were able to talk to the boys though and get some results, even if temporarily. Even back in the day, I remember older kids playing and using foul language and hand gestures, also graffiti on the walls of schools and other buildings. Those growing up in a big city are used to these things, and don't overreact or blow them out of proportion.

Now, in a place of work or in the classroom, etc., I believe it is the right of the persons in charge to set the rules regarding conduct and vulgarity.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Debodun, as far as I'm concerned we can never be too tolerant of our fellow man, do we have the right to judge what is and what isn't tolerable? People have the right and privilege to choose whatever lifestyle suits them, and as already mentioned, they have no control over their origins, but how many of us would be so high and mighty as to decide if we were going to tolerate someone or not because of where they were born?

The only people who should not be tolerated in this society, IMO, are people who abuse others or their property. Child abusers would definitely fall into that category, and I don't know of anyone who tolerates those who abuse babies or children. People like that are scum, and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law (or worse).

Fatties? Firstly, just using that term shows disrespect and intolerance to those who either by choice, uncontrolled situations or medical condition are overweight. If being liberal makes people treat others of all sizes, shapes or colors equally, than liberal is a very good thing and we should all adopt that mindset. Again, we can never be too tolerant in this respect.

Not tolerating people who wear white after summer is an old belief that should be buried with the ones who created that snobbish standard, I never paid much mind to "rules" like these.
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You said it for me SeaBreeze!
 
In this article at lawyers.com:

Obscenity Is Not Protected


Obscenity is an exception to the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech. If you shout vulgarities from your front porch for the whole neighborhood to hear, the authorities will probably charge you with disrupting the peace, and the First Amendment won't protect you. Your behavior would be offensive to a reasonable person, and it would have no value to society. The obscenity exception gets complicated when applied to the arts, because art benefits society. Whether a work of art is offensive can be a matter of individual taste.

In 1942, the U.S. Supreme Court added "incitement" to the list of things not covered by freedom of speech. "Fighting words" are against the law and not protected. You can't abuse someone verbally, or use words to rile a crowd into doing something illegal. Law enforcement can criminally charge you for your conduct, and you wouldn't be able to claim that you were exercising your constitutional rights.

In our city, it's against the law to yell obscenities at other's. Also words do hurt other's, as in mental cruelty that happens in some marriages, such as constantly demeaning a wife or husband and can be as harmful to a wife or husband as physical abuse.

http://civil-rights.lawyers.com/civil-liberties/its-ok-to-speak-your-mind-but-dont-hurt-anyone.html


 
SifuPhil said:
I went through a white-shoe phase in high school - white foam stacks. They had a 3" foam heel ("marshmallows". we called them) that allowed me to bounce all around town.

I'm not proud of that phase, but it was what it was for the times.

And ... whenever it rained those suckers were slippery as all get-out! :(
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Do you ever look at some young folks who are dressed outlandishly (in your opinion anyway) and smile, knowing that one day they will be looking through a photo array and see themselves and flinch and cringe when they get reminded of how 'cool' they thought they were? I do it all the time because we've all been there and done that.

Young people, so silly with their(our) inflated egos that's the hallmark of youth.
 
911 said:
Gee, Jim, did you think of that all by yourself? I have investigated numerous assaults and batteries that started out with only words being said. You need to walk a mile in my shoes and find out what can happen when people say the wrong words to the the wrong person.

OK, Jim, you may have the last word.
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No I didn't think of it all by myself. I had a team of 10 state troopers in my think tank helping me.
 
"I can't believe somebody called the cops to a playground because the F bomb was being thrown back and forth, that's a chance you take living next to a schoolyard or playground"

Where I grew up, older folks seemed quite tolerant, I think mainly due to fear, more than anything else. Those folks calling the cops over vulgarities used would have come home from shopping to find room to expand the schoolgrounds.

That's how Suburban Chicago was. Sorry, QS. Your neighborhood was not in Cicero, or Berwyn. imp
 
Well, as a retired school teacher, if I am on a train and some people are swearing at the top of their voices nearby, I use my teacher voice to tell them to lower their voices because the rest of us aren't appreciating the conversation. I find that it works.
 

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