Cultural Decline
Notes:
- Modesty, humility, politeness,
honor, and civility are increasingly rare. Vanity, self-celebration,
obsession with crass celebrities, and tasteless behavior are increasingly
common...
- I recall George Will speaking of
the "coarsening of America"...
- The Howard Stern affect... vulgar
is confused with funny...
- So much has to be "extreme"...
"gonzo this, gonzo that"...
- In so-called "reality" TV shows,
most of the people can't speak without language that has to be bleeped
out...
- Since the 1960's, much media has
been produced that, in effect, normalizes what was formerly bizarre.
"Normalizing" what was formerly unacceptable seems to be one of the chief
motives of many in the media industry.
- As authentic artistic content has
waned, many who produce and market entertainment media have stooped to lower
and lower standards to "distinguish" their sorry product. Crudeness has
become an artistic ideal.
- These days, the "fashions"
sported by many seem to come straight out of prisons and ghettos. Why would
someone want to look like a loser convict? Why would boys walk around with
their pants sagging down, showing their underwear? Apparently they don't
even know how stupid they look.
- For many, the "new casualness"
has deteriorated into nothing more than sloppiness... many have become
slovenly in appearance...
- If a culture can be judged by who
it chooses to elevate to "stardom," we are we are in serious trouble. If a
nation can be judged by its heroes, we are we are in serious trouble. When a
culture heaps praise and adulation on a bunch of crass, inane characters,
that culture is in serious trouble.
- I'm well aware that some will
reject the points made on this page, scoff at me for making them, and call
me an old curmudgeon. Consider the "points" on this page - not me. Simply
writing me off as this or that is not an argument that stands.
Documentation:
High-Five Nation
by
David Brooks, New York Times, September 15, 2009
The Marketing of Evil
by
David
Kupelian
Merchants
Of Cool
FrontLine
Of
Thee I Zing
by Laura
Inghram
Values and
morals in American society: The 1950s versus today
by by Jennifer Buckett
"As family dinners were replaced by television, the vessel
through which morals and values were taught shifted from family to the media."
Years of liberal dogma have spawned a generation of amoral,
uneducated, welfare dependent, brutalized youngsters
by Max Hastings, Daily Mail, August 10, 2001
Dumbing Down
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbing_down
Resistance
to Adulthood
