What has happened to our society? Is EVIL growing?

No. Stupidity is growing and common sense is dying.

Idiots and ideologues rule the air waves...

people are entranced with phony reality TV and addicted to the chimera of fame...

Individuality is confused...I wanna be an individual so I will get the latest____fill in the blank...

We have become weak and soft while still thinking we are strong enough to wage war...

We are bought and sold either openly or on black markets (our personal info anyway)...

We are too cheap to pay for things made here so people will have jobs and too greedy to care...

We are spiritually numb preferring either the rigid conformity of funnymentalism or the loose conformity of new age mumbo jumbo...not having the strength of mind to even seriously attempt the original teachings new age charlatans have plagiarized...

We are fat soft couch potatoes dying of associated diseases who idealize the machismo of the military...sports "heroes" and the like.

Language is degrading into a mishmash of chat and texting shorthand to the point that many people couldn't write a coherent sentence if you held a shotgun to their heads...

We are shocked when our leaders lie and steal forgetting they are us...

Our ancestors would be so ashamed of us...after they stopped peeing themselves laughing.

We are too pathetic to be evil...

but we are easy marks for it.

[edit on 3/10/2010 by iMacFanatic]

Let's just say, it's not as it could be, and it's not as it should be...

What happened in the last decades and whats happening right now is just a shame stamp on the paper of mankind.

Yes, we are the center of the universe !

*dumb*

reply to post by iMacFanatic


iMacF,

Excellent thoughts, nice post! Thank you for stopping by...

reply to post by iMacFanatic


That's pretty much the perfect summary...

reply to post by JoeGroomlake


Thx JoeG!

I liked the sound effects...

If I'm the center of the universe, how come i got a "honey-do" list?

Darn, doesn't she know

Rereading it I thought how reactionary I sound and I am a self declared staunch liberal.

Still it is...all of it true.

But the only way out of this toxic fog that has settled on us as a nation is to move forward...

but the past is comfortable, the future frightening and the powers that be haven't decided how to make a profit on it yet.

Intraverted society applies a morality of humanism and materialism which states that the best possible good is what people think they want, and that when no lives are lost, the action is morally supreme. It struggles over its confrontations with conflict, and has a sick tendency to refuse to engage conflict until it is a disaster, and then to wrap its martial ventures in good intentions and benevolent-sounding aims like democracy, peace and prosperity. As a consequence, when intraverted society makes war it is from a passive position in which it construes itself as the victim after provoking its enemy with non-aggressive but nonetheless destructive actions, and its wars end in failures because it cannot morally stomach conquest.

Moral societies by their schizoid nature are afraid to connect inner knowledge of what would enhance life with external action. Internally, these societies are divided by a knowledge of what is right blocked by a fear of what others think, or what is popular. Their logic is universally individualistic and argues that individual desires and survival come before other concerns, so destructive actions are allowed as long as they do not violate the basic taboos of violence and denial of "rights" to others. Consequently, such societies are filled with parasitic people who understand how to appear passive but act aggressively and selfishly, knowing that the rest of the society will not limit them because it is afraid to deny their individual desires as expressed in economic competition and social status.

Originally posted by OldThinker
Why are you soooo angry?

...thats another erroneous presumption... perhaps the questions you should be asking yourself are: (1) what was in wyn's first post that encouraged me to post an angry, presumptious and rude response to her? - and - (2) what was in wyn's second post that encouraged me to project my own emotional state on her and post another angry, presumptious and rude response?...

Originally posted by OldThinker
Odds are you'll ignore my question fellow oldtimer, prove OT wrong k?

...based upon your adoration of illogical presumptions, the odds are more likely to favor the logical presumption that you cant play poker worth a hoot and, rather than learning how to play more efficiently, you blame your losses on others cheating...

Originally posted by OldThinker
What was his point really?

...i explained that in my first post but you werent interested in that line of discussion, as is evidenced by your inappropriate responses...

Originally posted by OldThinker
To me it was "its all relative" you believe that friend?

...my "its irrelative" remark (in my second post) was in response to your erroneous presumption that i was not qualified to have an opinion of the subject matter due to not having lived long enough...

...btw, referring to people that you've been rude to as "friend" is often perceived as "disingenous, at best" because it is...

Originally posted by concernedcitizan
The only way to save ourselves is to rebuild our culture and spirit. If we fail that, whatever's left of our traditions will become commerce for clueless consumers equal to ourselves.

Idiocracy at its finest right here..

Thanks for the post I liked it alot. I agree with everything you stated, it makes me mad, pissed, and sad we have to live in this situation everyday where people value money over others.. Its sickning to say the least..

If i can give you a billion starts I would have..

Thanks for showing me I am not the only person on this planet to see this world is wrong and screwed up.

reply to post by OldThinker


It comes down to a couple of things and this is what I believe they are. The progressive mindset of pass the blame and let the the weakest thrive is really bad. Our kids are growing up weak of mind and soul and it shows big time. They expect to win and when they don't they still expect the rewards of winning.


Also the whole politically correct bleeding heart attitude is killing the very fabric of America. They pass the guilt and also like to appease there enemies. We need our children to strive to win again and not feel shame for doing it. Also the bleeding hearts always in this country held the lowest credibility this needs to be instilled again. They are weak for a reason.....

reply to post by Subjective Truth


Progressives are, generally, nice people. They want other people to be nice to each other, too. In other words, they are trying to make the entire world behave like a bunch of wussies. And how do you like living in a world of wussies?

Yes, I believe our morals are quickly evaporating like a fart in the wind. All one has to do is take a look at the current state of affairs throughout the western world to see that. The murder, the violence, the apathy, the selfishness, the greed, and yet we still foolishly and arrogantly believe we have the right to force our culture and our way of life upon the rest of the world whether they want it or not.

Perhaps we should focus more on improving our own society, and our own culture, and our own morals, before making the decision to meddle in the affairs of others.

Perhpas this is why those in the west are often resented by humanity throughout the rest of the world.

reply to post by Wyn Hawks



Thank you for the response, measured and right on...

I'll respond more in depth later tonight.

Nice job! You surprized me

OT

PS: I'll address each issue in detail, thx!

reply to post by Wyn Hawks


Here's a quick one, last minute...

If WE decide what is or is NOT "right" aren't we just animals?

If its relative, who cares? I was speaking to his post, not yours!

OT

reply to post by OldThinker


I'm a big fan of Gilgamesh. One thing that early on fascinated me about Gilgamesh is how he reveals the blurry outposts of humanism. According to the Epic there are no clear boundaries between animal, human and god. If you hang out in the desert with other animals and drink water from ponds, you'll stay animal. If you fornicate with humans and acquire an understanding for friendship, empathy and civilization, you'll become human. And if you have the luck of being born by gods but still can face the idea of death, you'll become god.

Many Abrahamists falsely believe the opposite. Humans are special and different from animals--a category of creatures distinct from all other creatures on Earth. Most can't argue why, but one common argument is that animals lack morality. Now science can confirm this is just another anthropocentric myth:

Philosophical and scientific convention, of course, has pulled toward a more conservative account of morality: Morality is a capacity unique to human beings. But the more we study the behavior of animals, the more we find that different groups of animals have their own moral codes. That raises both scientific and philosophic questions.

Researchers like Frans de Waal (The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society), Elliott Sober, David Sloan Wilson (Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior), and Kenneth M. Weiss and Anne V. Buchanan (The Mermaid's Tale: Four Billion Years of Cooperation in the Making of Living Things) have demonstrated that animals have social lives rich beyond our imagining, and that cooperation and caring have shaped the course of evolution every bit as much as competition and ruthlessness have. Individuals form intricate networks and have a large repertoire of behavior patterns that help them get along with one another and maintain close and generally peaceful relationships. Indeed, Robert W. Sussman, an anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis, and his colleagues Paul A. Garber and Jim Cheverud reported in 2005 in The American Journal of Physical Anthropology that for many nonhuman primates, more than 90 percent of their social interactions are affiliative rather than competitive or divisive. Moreover, social animals live in groups structured by rules of engagement—there are "right" and "wrong" ways of behaving, depending on the situation.

While we all recognize rules of right and wrong behavior in our own human societies, we are not accustomed to looking for them among animals. But they're there, as are the "good" prosocial behaviors and emotions that underlie and help maintain those rules. Such behaviors include fairness, empathy, forgiveness, trust, altruism, social tolerance, integrity, and reciprocity—and they are not merely byproducts of conflict but rather extremely important in their own right.


One might argue back that the morality of animals lacks the self-reflection and structured complexity of humans, which seems right, but all this really "proves" is that humans are different from other animals. When you think about it, the evolutionary view makes for a much more interesting life. You can choose to become an animal with a poorly developed morality, or aim for building culture and civilization like a real human. Instead of doing like the misanthropes and calling "immoral" people or "low-life humans," we can just call them animals, which potentially could be offending to already advanced animals.

reply to post by concernedcitizan


Perhaps that is what the ultimate goal is in regards to "progressives".

Perhaps they are trying to lessen the hate, the divisivness, and the violence.

While we may view it as an encroachment upon our freedoms, perhaps these people are just trying to create a society in which future generations will inevitably live in harmony. A world without hate, fear, bigotry, and war sounds like a world I would want my future children to grow up in.

Perhaps we here on a conspiracy theory related website view the current political correctness as a sign that our rights and freedoms are being encroached upon. However, what if it is actually happening for a reason. What if it is actually conditioning future generations to live in harmony. Or a world devoid of hate and violence?

I can't really view something like that in a negative light. I think we all wan't what is best for our children as well as future generations do we not?

reply to post by galacticos


Pluralism has begun to fail as people realize that organic alliances -- caste, race, and moral inclination -- are dividing us now that the previous underdogs have the numbers to be equal partners. Everyone's doing what benefits them, including those who championed underdogs to make themselves seem more altruistic.

Even corporate advertising is reigning in the "let's all get along" rhetoric.

The fact is that we need a society unified around consensus, and until we get one, we will be fighting each other and being unfair to one another. That's a path to nothing but failure.

Originally posted by Wyn Hawks

Originally posted by Therian
good and evil only exists in a moral compass of what you would or would not do.

...re-read the first line of therian's post and see if you can figure out what happened...

This statement is wrong!

Are you telling me you believe rightness and wrongness is relative, only bouyed by strength? Survival of the fittest is the measuring stick?

You did respond, I'll give you that...

btw, how was I rude, friend? ooppss...lil sarcasm there

All in good fun

Originally posted by Subjective Truth
reply to post by OldThinker

 

It comes down to a couple of things and this is what I believe they are. The progressive mindset of pass the blame and let the the weakest thrive is really bad. Our kids are growing up weak of mind and soul and it shows big time. They expect to win and when they don't they still expect the rewards of winning.


Also the whole politically correct bleeding heart attitude is killing the very fabric of America. They pass the guilt and also like to appease there enemies. We need our children to strive to win again and not feel shame for doing it. Also the bleeding hearts always in this country held the lowest credibility this needs to be instilled again. They are weak for a reason.....

Lot a truth there....

Excerpt from an email I got to support you!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when werode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and

NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank koolade made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because 

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING !

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back  when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.

And we were O.K.We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride downthe hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.......
WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

Originally posted by concernedcitizan
reply to post by OldThinker

 

I'm a big fan of Gilgamesh. ..

Nice well thought thru post

Not sure I agree, but well versed..

OT thanks for the the time here.