When did America, go to Hell

[Karl F]

Bingo Dad! ...


zacs.. curious...how old are you?

reason I ask, is, I think it's in all what each individual remembers.

I remember much of what TDF referenced...

Trust in authourity figures... freedon to roam around.. more one on one with people... not machines..

Call a company.. talk with a person.. a human being.. not a prerecorded menu.. push one for this two for that.. etc..

Doctors that would come to your house in the middle of the night for a sick kid.. or elderly person.

Being more afraid of the old man, than the local cops..

R E S E P E C T for other folks.. property.. and being polite...

Cashiers that said thank you, after they counted your change back (!).. and not.. answering with.. your welcome.. (WTF.. I gave them money.. and they say your welcome!.. always irks me.. only reason I say Thanks to a clerk is to solicit some kinda response...)

Kids miss out big time on all the freedom.. like TDF stated..

I guess if they can't remember different.. they think it's OK..

But I think it's a downright shame what's become of this society over the last half century...

But.. like I earleir stated.. maybe it's an age thing...


I think Credit Cards (Diner Club started it in the fifties), TV commercials.. Fast Food.. Shopping Malls.. Forced Sunday Openings for almost all business.. the "Cookie Cutter" mentality.. Super Highways.. I mean.. travelling across country in the fiftes/sixties.. greasy spoons, diners and "Americana".. have been replaced by Super Highways with Mall Exits.. you get off the highway.. you could be "Anywhere"..
No "Local Color".. anymore..

No Ethics anymore.. Morality?.. that's been dead and buried for years.. Local Govt. on up..

We Are in the Toilet.. compared to What us "Older Folks".. Knew.. No Doubt.

But.. It's all in what you Remeber.. I guess...and the powers that be, really want us to Forget.

[justplugit]

I think as you get older you see things in a different light as you have a point of comparison. The older you get the more change you see, and as your security is tied up in things staying the same , you naturally don't like change.

That being said, the question was, "when did America start to go to hell?" Having been around almost 68 years i gotta say again, it was the 60's.

That's when we seemed to lose our moral compass.

We have all the material things we could ever want, that's not lacking, but the morality, which touches every area of our life is lacking, and without that we will continue on a downward spiral.

[Joe]

When you talk about rise of morality and civility, you're really only referring to a brief slice of American history, roughly 1900-1965 (with timeouts for some major wars) at best.

Even then, this morality and civility were only extended to some white people. It was not a good time to be anything other than a white male. We've always been a wild society prone to violence and greed and the protection of our interests above all else.

[justplugit]

Joe, i liked your comments.

I can only comment back to the 40's as that is what i remember. In the 40's and 50's churches couldn't be built fast enough, neighbors knew and helped each other, a man's word was as good as his bond, there was very little divorce,no one would think of suing over minor things, people respected the opinion and advice of older people because they knew they had experienced life.

However, as you mentioned the early 1900s, i do remember reading that the 20s weren't the most moral of times.

Tamminy Hall, Al Capone, prohibition, the speculation and crash of the market. But from what i remember my Dad and many others of that period saying, people were by far ,the salt of the earth and could be trusted. The shaking of a hand was a contract.

The 30s and 40s united the country during the wars, which you mentioned, citizens made personal sacrafices for the sake of freedom.

People would work a full time job, and come at night and work in the war plants. Volunteer for any effort to help. So America had a purpose to defend freedom and still went by a moral compass.

The change i saw, which was very dramatic, between the 60s and 70s ,was the outlook of the country changing from a united purpose to a "me generation". It has never looked back.

You are right, human greed always has, and always will be there. But our morals balance it out. Imho, we need moral beliefs and purposes as individuals and as a country.

As they say, " if you don't believe in something, you fall for anything."

[GonnaCatchABig1]

when MTV started playing nothing but rap and hip hop. and preached great values like "money is everything" "power is everything" "it's ok to kill a few people to get those two". and then forced it down the throats of every middle class kid in the country so they could turn a profit. aka the 90's

[OX]

Child proof lighters!

[zacs]

man oh man, you guys are grumpy, negative, sad mf'ers.

reading this thread is so depressing.

Why do you all fear change so much. There has always been bad. There has always been good.

Things have changed. GET OVER IT. It is always going to change.

ENJOY LIFE!!!!!! ITS SHORT@!!!!!!@#

[Raven]

zac if you were standing in front of me
and said that..

get over it i'd knock you right on your ass''

first of all : show some respect for your elders

secondly you haven't been on the planet as long as some of us

to see how much things have gone into the Crapper...

but point taken .... just say it in a more inspirational way.

no offense ....but i say exactly whats on my mind

and i happen to like you.

[zacs]

Originally Posted by Raven

zac if you were standing in front of me
and said that..

get over it i'd knock you right on your ass''

first of all :

would you use a three inch bruce lee punch?

I say get over it because i read this long thread of everyone bitching about how bad things are and it is just depressing the sh\t out of me.

i can't say it more inspirational. I don't know how else to knock some happy into all of you sad old men...

I may not be 75 years old, but I have been on this earth for 31, and I have seen enough change to witness the good and the bad.

Things are always going in the crapper. I promise that 100 years ago this exact conversation was taking place about "how great things used to be" and "how everthing is going in the crapper."

I just don't buy it.