The State of Our Society

Our soceity, I noticed has gone from bad to worse, and now to terrible.
Here's a few things about our society:

1. Money is God! People want it, lots of it. They do stupid things to get it. Like gamble, the lottery, and stealing. Notice all the reality shows lately with massive cash prizes? How about those casino, poker shows and ads and advertisments in general that are on TV, Internet, Sides of buses, billboards, radio, etc? Money is everything and don't say that it's not in this society, people want more and more of it. Can you blame them?

2. Our corrupted youth. Our future generation looks pretty bleak. They are corrupted by the media to the point of insanity. They get involved in street gangs at young ages (grade 8), and do drugs around this time two. They listen to music that's lyrics promote drug use and violence. At our age we can understand, but they take stuff far too literally. Some are smart enough to break from this and will grow up to be intelligent individuals.

3. Appearance is EVERYTHING! We have stupid shows like Enteratianment Tonight, and Inside Hollywood and magazines that propogate images of the wealthy elite. Those people are perfect, right? Why don't we look like them? If we look like them we will feel rich like them too, right? This is what people belive and they will stop at nothing to achive the appearance of their idols. Everyone that dosen't look like them are outcastes in our society, imperfect, expendible.

4. Man is god! Suicide is metioned in Music, TV, and Movies like no tommorow (no pun intended). In Britney Spears' music video she commits suicide at the end. Why not, man is God, life getting you down?, END IT! Suicide is WRONG, no matter what you belive in, even if you are athiest.

5. Society is fear driven, terrorist attacks, murders, shootings, robberies, are all widly broadcast on your 6:00 news. All to keep us in check.

I have more things to add but I might break the keyboard. Please add some of your comments of what do you think is wrong with our society.

I agree with you GoldEagle. Society is going in the wrong direction. We're polluting our lands just so we can get money! Entertainment, and Music has influenced teens to do drugs, become violent (thank goodness I didn't follow). We call ourselves civilized but we go out bombing homes, killing people, raping, molesting etc! We have the oppurtunity to change, but some of us don't want to take that oppurtunity becuase we're to scared of change (which we need). It just pisses me off with whats going on out there. We don't deserve to live on this planet if we continue this bad habit.

Yeah.. the world is going to hell.

You live in the same city as I do, anything specific?

The one thing that sums up all of the above is; people have become self-centered. Most of people's days are wrapped up in thinking of every circumstance in how it will benefit them. If people really started thinking and believing that everything one does has a consequence to others, and made decisions by that, then the world would be a better place. However, it ain't gonna happen. My opinion is that most people will not change for the better and eventually society will come to a threshold where we either live or die.

Originally posted by GoldEagle
Our soceity, I noticed has gone from bad to worse, and now to terrible.
Here's a few things about our society:

Our society and world is not being made better. Over the course of time things deteriorate. A new car in a few years needs new brakes and tires and a new muffler and tailpipe system.

The events that happened on September 11th in the US caught my attention to the point that what happened and has stayed with me. And as more time passes new events are joining the line of events that I am adding to my watchlist, because the are making an impression on me. The latest is the Natalee Holloway disappearance.

Before 9/11 there was an event that happened that did not impact me as it should have. But now going backward I see it was to be on the list of things that should grab our attentiona nd make us stand up and say why. That event was the school shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

Originally posted by dbrandt
Before 9/11 there was an event that happened that did not impact me as it should have. But now going backward I see it was to be on the list of things that should grab our attentiona nd make us stand up and say why. That event was the school shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

Columbine is but one example. Kids today are worse than the previous generation. I think every generation says this about the youth growing up after them, and with good reason. We all grew up in our own time, but progressively, each generation in a rapidly growing rate, is seemingly getting worse and worse regarding morals, common sense, responsibility and lawfulness. In the 50's the rock and roll era brought in a new phase, for example, where parents thought kids were following a sense of rebellion listening to rock legends such as Elvis. My what we have changed. Nowadays, we worry about if some kid thinks it will be fun, with a sense of fulfillment to gun down as many people as possible in the school. While I don't condone Columbine, I really understand the agenda of the so-called two shooters of the coined - trenchcoat mafia. I myself was the target of harrasment in my youth at school, but I learned to deal with it and eventually stand up to people who give me BS. Todays youth are so full of ideas of violence that it is really easy to take the imaginative mind and play out a real life slaughter. It doesn't phase me to imagine if I had a lot of violent video games, or access to violent images in media to train my mind in order to gun down people when I was a teen.

Unfortunately, I cannot blame the entertainment industry, as violence in and of itself is a part of life. History is full of violence and just because TV and games shows it, does not mean it is their fault it exists. Government is not to blame just because they allow it. We cannot allow government to censor us. I truly believe that the degeneration of society is part of the plan of the fall of mankind. If we start blaming anyone in particular, we should all be guilty and if we don't do something we are all to blame - every one of us. Sometimes, it is not possible to change people and mankind. If you don't believe me, try making someone do something they don't care about. Now imagine changing a nation to start thinking a certain way. I think our best bet is to ride it out and protect those you love and hope we all make it through the next 50 years.

Originally posted by dbrandt
Before 9/11 there was an event that happened that did not impact me as it should have. But now going backward I see it was to be on the list of things that should grab our attentiona nd make us stand up and say why. That event was the school shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.

Columbine is but one example. Kids today are worse than the previous generation. I think every generation says this about the youth growing up after them, and with good reason. We all grew up in our own time, but progressively, each generation in a rapidly growing rate, is seemingly getting worse and worse regarding morals, common sense, responsibility and lawfulness. In the 50's the rock and roll era brought in a new phase, for example, where parents thought kids were following a sense of rebellion listening to rock legends such as Elvis. My what we have changed. Nowadays, we worry about if some kid thinks it will be fun, with a sense of fulfillment to gun down as many people as possible in the school. While I don't condone Columbine, I really understand the agenda of the so-called two shooters of the coined - trenchcoat mafia. I myself was the target of harrasment in my youth at school, but I learned to deal with it and eventually stand up to people who give me BS. Todays youth are so full of ideas of violence that it is really easy to take the imaginative mind and play out a real life slaughter. It doesn't phase me to imagine if I had a lot of violent video games, or access to violent images in media to train my mind in order to gun down people when I was a teen.

Unfortunately, I cannot blame the entertainment industry, as violence in and of itself is a part of life. History is full of violence and just because TV and games shows it, does not mean it is their fault it exists. Government is not to blame just because they allow it. We cannot allow government to censor us. I truly believe that the degeneration of society is part of the plan of the fall of mankind. If we start blaming anyone in particular, we should all be guilty and if we don't do something we are all to blame - every one of us. Sometimes, it is not possible to change people and mankind. If you don't believe me, try making someone do something they don't care about. Now imagine changing a nation to start thinking a certain way. I think our best bet is to ride it out and protect those you love and hope we all make it through the next 50 years.

The kids involved in the Columbine killings where outcastes. They where push over the edge by others. No one would randomly go to school with a gun and kill people. It could have not been a mental disorder because more than one person was involved. That was a terribly unfortunate event.

But that just proves and pushes the point further that our society is going to hell. When people that are different have to endure pains like that. In the end of the Columbine shootings no one wins.

Our society has lots of scumbags in it. Child molesters, these people should all be rounded up and thrown in a hole that leads strait down to hell. Children can't play on the streets like we use to because of them. What can possibly be more disgusting then that? :shk:

[edit on 6/21/2005 by GoldEagle]

Originally posted by GoldEagle
The kids involved in the Columbine killings where outcastes. They where push over the edge by others. No one would randomly go to school with a gun and kill people. It could have not been a mental disorder because more than one person was involved. That was a terribly unfortunate event.

But that just proves and pushes the point further that our society is going to hell. When people that are different have to endure pains like that. In the end of the Columbine shootings no one wins.

Our society has lots of scumbags in it. Child molesters, these people should all be rounded up and thrown in a hole that leads strait down to hell. Children can't play on the streets like we use to because of them. What can possibly be more disgusting then that? :shk:

[edit on 6/21/2005 by GoldEagle]

That is exactly my point, in two ways. The Columbine shooters were not infants programmed to kill and shoot. They were made that way by teachers and school administrators who are more interested in making sure you haven't violated the dress code by wearing a ball-cap than being the slightest bit socially aware of whose who are in the cliques at school, harrassing others against a group of teens who have a group of care-free attitudes about the sanctity of life by an upbringing of non-parental guidance and violent video games. I mean, I can talk to a dude who plays Doom for about an hour decide if he has a willingness to fire guns at people if he is pushed far enough, if I can socialize with him/her on their level. It is a no brainer to talk to a teen who has an obsession with guns and violent video games to think that it is not beyond them to carry it out if they are pushed far enough.

Teachers, Administrators, Parents, and youths need to get real about what is actually goin on. Guns are real and any one can use them. It doesn't take much for a programmed individual to cross the line of their sensibilities to shoot people for fun. A video game is fun, but with it comes responsibility. Honestly, their parents failed and so did the school for controlling the school environment. When I was in school, I got into fights, but nothing was ever done about it. The Jocks picked on the unfortunate outcasts and nothing was ever done about it. I guess the Jocks and cheerleaders are above condemnation because they contribute to extracirricular activity - or so it may seem.

As for child molesters, we should have an absolute solution to them, but not without a federal law of what is okay and what is not. Children, should not be molested under any circumstance and molesters should be castrated and ordered to take female hormones for life, if they are male. Cut off their genitalia and reduce their male hormones. If they get a kick out of it, well then prison should be the life for them for a long long time. The cut off age as you know is usually 16 for consentual sex in most states, if a parent doesn't press for delinquency or something other. Like it or not, parents cannot have a middle ground here. A 12 year old should not be having consentual or non with anybody, but at some age there begins to come a time when teens change and they don't know if they are agreeing to something or not. Other countries allow sex at a lower age and even marriage. The west is not the same.

My personal beliefs is that no one under 18 really has the sense to know the responsibilities of sex earlier than that and that we should draw the line across the board for all intimate contact below that age, consentual or not.
Anyone engaging in sex before 18 should have consequences, depending on if they are a minor or adult - with severity depending on if they are an adult or not. Also, any molestor taking advantage of anyone under 18 should be automatically punished. I really don't care about middle ground here. This nonsense of teens messing around wastes the time on the court system docket and takes away from true child molestors who could be 35 or 40 engaging with a minor under 16. You hear about people arranging to meet minors in another stae, or pick them up at a hotel over the internet, only to be busted. Actually, if an adult initiated this and the minor is 16, this is not illegal to meet or even have sex if it is consentual in most states. Parents seem to have a problem with this and raise heck, but that is because they think their 16 year old is too young to make a decision (righty so) or other reasons. Set the age for sex at 18, an anything else is illegal. Much simpler and less bothersome. Adults should be castrated and given hormones and minors with minors should be given at the very least a long probation and supervised birth control - male and female.

Only an idiot parent would think that a minor would be capable of making a good judgment about having sex with someone before they are 18.

This settles the law argument of what we ought to do about child molestors. Like I said, adults engaging with molestation with anyone under 18 should be told real clear that they will lose their genitalia and be subdued into womanhood for life if they attempt this action. If they just like the control aspect of it, they should just be discarded into prison. No one better post a crying sob story otherwise that we should do any different or it is too harsh of a rationale, or I will immediately take a disliking to you! I have kids, and if you think this is harsh, then that is like you are agreeing that my girls should be felt-up and violated before they have any common sense. Right now, my oldest is 12, so if anyone molested her, I would certainly make them pay - way before the law gets to them.

Originally posted by GoldEagle
4. Suicide is WRONG, no matter what you belive in, even if you are athiest.

Incorrect. Your statement is an opinion. Being that you can only see things via your perception of them, it is perhaps best that you do not speak for others. Suicide is a choice. If you believe in freedom of choice then you must accept what you perceive as good choices as well as bad choices.

Nice post Gold Eagle . Most of those topics on your list I would put in my own list, except possibly suicide. In my personal opinion, I'd say that suicide isn't as rampant as the other things you listed, and I'd probably put 'superficiality' in its place. It's something I see far too much of today, and I think it's corrupting our moral values, but that's just me.

It's too bad that money is at the center of everything and the cause of much violence in the world, but because of the selfish nature of human beings, I don't see a change in the near future. The ideal society in my opinion would be moneyless, run by the people and be driven by progress much like in the 50's, but this kind of society will not work so long as people compete for resources and class differences continue to expand.

About the corruption of our youth, I totally agree, and actually had my own separate rant on that! Kids are reading less, staying inside more, maturing sexually far too fast, and emotionally too slow. Previous generations have worked hard to give out children better and more comfortable lives, but that gift is being taken fo granted and is completely abused (I don't mean to say this is universal among children...some have very difficult lives of course but there are enough children with qualities listed above that it deserves mention).

I'm sick of how the media propagates fear and keeps us constantly on edge. It makes us selfish, uber consumers and instills in us often irrational and exaggerated fears. But how do we even go about ending this? Superficiality and fear are securely tied to profits, and with money being at the core of basically everything, it will be hard to lessen these two societal plagues. I'd go more into it but this is not my rant

[edit on 22-6-2005 by zhangmaster]

Originally posted by Jonna

Originally posted by GoldEagle
4. Suicide is WRONG, no matter what you belive in, even if you are athiest.

Incorrect. Your statement is an opinion. Being that you can only see things via your perception of them, it is perhaps best that you do not speak for others. Suicide is a choice. If you believe in freedom of choice then you must accept what you perceive as good choices as well as bad choices.

This is not an opinion this is a statment. Im an seriously enforcing the fact that suicide is wrong and should not under any circumstances be commited. Humans have free will but so do animals, you don't see animals killing themselfs just because their lives go bad. This is an indication that this is not a natrual event and is a concept of human kind.

[edit on 6/22/2005 by GoldEagle]

Originally posted by GoldEagle
Humans have free will but so do animals, you don't see animals killing themselfs just because their lives go bad. This is an indication that this is not a natrual event and is a concept of human kind.

It's not unique to humankind. Whales and dolpins etc frequently beach themselves [possibly when one is sick.. as indicated by a recent beaching in Aus].

I've heard stories of Reindeer in the Arctic jumping off cliffs during the unbearable misquito season as well. Supposedly this is the only true case of suicide in animals, but I'd definately consider the beached whales a strong possibility Riley

Originally posted by ben91069
The cut off age as you know is usually 16 for consentual sex in most states, if a parent doesn't press for delinquency or something other.

This is very disgusting, the cut off age is 16! This is not only the USA, the cut off age in Canada is 16 too. This is far too young. I personaly think that the cut off age should br 21 (like the legal age for cigarettes up here). I went through high school and by far I don't even think 18 year olds are mature enough to handle it.

I knew a girl that was going out with a 35 year old when she was 17. Her parents found out, she refused to break up and they kicked her out of the house. Now she is living in other peoples houses downtown. I think her boyfriend was one hell of a desperate person. Desperate people desperate things.

I have more things to add but I might break the keyboard. Please add some of your comments of what do you think is wrong with our society

I see it all around. Not just in the things that our Society does, but in what we don't do.

Like the fact that Sports are the top paying jobs. Ah last time I looked Sports were games, doesn't that imply fun? To play a game and get paid some of the best salary's, says something about our morals.

The basic principals like how we value Teachers. These are people who have decided to teach the future. They get paid squat. The fact that MONEY is king if you have it the world is at your feet, without it you starve like a wild animal.


The fact that mothers are not valued in our society. Now a day's every woman should have a job. Children are no longer a priority in our plans for the future and yet they are the FUTURE. Once you are gone your children will be the ones left. The ones to carry on. I hope they do better than us.

Mothers are not a value in our society anymore. People that have an attachment to their mother are refered to as "mamma's boy" or something like that. Okay when you are like 20 + this is a bit awkward but the youth are very seperate from them. People I know that had very protective mothers that looked after them, had very good childhoods and did very good in school. People that didn't pretty much burned out there lives and are digging ditches now.

Teachers have gotten a bad rap too. To most teens, they are the enemy. They are the people that control their lives. This is not true, teachers are there to help you, If you don't respect them, how do you expect them to help you? I got to admit the teachers themselves are getting worse too. They care more about there free time them a decent fun education for the youth.