Society - why has it gone mad?

First question:

--Greed. The whole notion that "Greed is Good" and that folks are without worth until/unless they make a big pile of that filthy lucre...

--Religious fanaticism. Mindless zealotry. Basically wanting to believe in the "Lord your God" so desperately that you are willing to hang it all up and leave your brain at the door, no matter how bad it gets, no matter how much your "shepherd" wants to bring about the End of Days....

--Cowardice. More specifically, a form of Stockholm Syndrome, or learned helplessness. Put simply, *We the People Appease Our Abusers in Life* when we should be kicking their punkasses to the curb. From CEOs to HMOs to Middle Managers to Bureaucrats to Politicians to Media Figures to Evangelical Zealots. We suck up too much. We need to grow a pair and *hold* Our Powers That Be *accountable* for their cruelty and abuse. With as much prejudice as needed.

Second question:

--Because we are liars and hypocrites about the very information we teach. We *know* rationally that education is one of the BIG tools we need to not only succeed and tread water short term, but to grow and *improve* long term. We know this. But then we turn right around and through the other side of our mouths spew garbage in support of a Jock Culture Gone Mad, an elitist "superstar" ethic that utterly attacks, slanders, libels, and defames both the role intelligence plays for *humanity* (hint: compared to other species, it is the ONLY THING we have worth having--we are that weak and pathetic in ALL OTHER RESPECTS), and the role it ought to play in society. I mean, why DO we pay NBA basketball players *hundreds of times* more money, on average, than we do our teachers or our social workers? Why do we insult lawyers, some of the best and brightest folks we have going, at every opportunity we get? Why do we make millionaires out of "crunk" rappers who can't even speak a proper sentence, when that money could and should be going to rebuild the inner cities themselves into something BETTER than a trashed-up-alleyway?

Third question:

Ultimately....I am not sure what CAN be done. There is a world of difference between *proving a fact* and convincing a human.

I can prove to these people day and night, objectively, from just the life experiences of me and my family, for example, that no, poverty is NOT about being a-lazy-good-fer-nothin' , ok? I have enough experience, both first hand in my own life, and second hand from watching my sisters in my own family struggle, that I can lay that political hot-potato to rest *permanently*. I can *prove* the fact that poor folks are NOT lazy, and by and large are NOT just sitting on their tails and being parasites, ok?

But convincing the humans...that is a different story. For every person like me who can speak up and does, there are forty rich pampered 'Burb Bastids ready to bleat and piss and moan and to *shout me down* with the Slogans of the Week from their Precious Fox News. And in this nation, in this day and age, quantity does speak louder than quality.

It is going to take nothing more, nor less, than a complete shift in national, cultural mentality, to get people to actually *think* for themselves again as opposed to appeasing their societal abuser of choice. We have to convince the humans that they are NOT worthless per se, in the absence of their material toys, and that they ARE worth standing up for and fighting for....

And at the rate things are going, it isn't going to happen in my lifetime. We'll end up seeing the U.S. become a dictatorship just like China, and we'll end up seeing the whole country being turned into one massive *breakdown* like New Orleans, post-Katrina, from sea to shining sea, first. Really. Because people suck that much and *want* to see everything decay into rot and ruin that badly (just so they can make some more filthy lucre off of exploiting all the new problems--which are the only new markets allowed to exist these days).

So I don't know what to tell you. If we got rid of "Greed is Good" and the underlying assumption of human worthlessness and disposability that is its foundation, that might be something....but we also have to be free to *solve* problems again instead of just *exploiting them to death*, you know?

People will always act ignorant. I find our modern society, through the short time I have lived (FYI: I'm a teenager), we've experienced an extreme loss of values, especially taking anything relating to the bible or God out of public schools. I could've gone to a private school for junior high/high school, but decided not to b/c most of my friends go to public school. After all, private schools cost more. Anyway, my point is there are still good people around, maybe not as many as there used to be, but I'm a good person and I wish more people would look at the positive rather than the negative. You'll live a more enjoyable life looking at the positive. It's not that your ill-informed, it's that you decide to not let the depressing stuff ruin your day. Okay, and I get mad at some people b/c democrats say "WE NEED TO SPEND MORE MONEY ON PUBLIC SCHOOLS" THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AREN'T THE PROBLEM. IT'S THE STAFF AND THE TEACHERS. In some instances, I feel like I'm smarter than some of my teachers dealing with common sense. You would not believe some of the stuff I've had to go through dealing with public school - the teachers aren't that good - seriously... I'm in high school and I stapled some papers together and I was told to "Fold the paper over where the staple was so it wouldn't be as dangerous to handle." Sometimes, fury just builds inside of me seeing the lack of education some of these teachers have. You may have to search some, but you can look at my question, "Why are teachers and schools in general so stupid?" If you were back in school, you would understand what I'm talking about.

Why is it a surprise that society is going mad when we do not hold people accountable for their behavior. What I mean is, if they don't work, they shouldn't eat. Everybody has something to contribute to society.

Jail for criminals is not always sufficient. When we have kingpins operating crime rings from inside prison walls and young thugs who see jail time as a badge of honor.

We're teaching them young now. In school we don't want to hurt the poor little child's feelings so we can't even grade them according to their work. That attitude will create the personalities that we see coming up today. People who believe they are owed a good paying job, health care, and a big screen TV.

Outlawing self defense so that if I shoot somebody breaking into my house at night or bust the head open, the law charges me with a crime and sends me to jail. They would even outlaw the gun itself if we let them.

So crime rate soars because the accused has more rights than the victims. We are so afraid of accusing the wrong person that the criminal's lawyer is allowed to exploit that fear until justice is rarely found in our justice system.

I believe in corporal punishment, and I'm speaking as someone who deserved corporal punishment.

I believe in self responsibility so that welfare is not a government function. It should be left to local organizations who voluntarily reach out to people in need. You can believe they'll watch what happens with their giving. If the recipient self destructs on their giving the giving stops. If the recipient takes the gift and puts it to the use the giver approves of the giver keeps on giving. Its not somebody else money and the giver is just earning a paycheck giving it away.

One world view is for government to be the instant fix for all society's woes,

This world view has ultimately never been good for society.

Another world view is for personal responsibility for each individual and government facilitating it.

This has succeeded every time its applied.

If you term "Education" as schooling , college a degree then definitely "Education" is not what drives people or society. Its the attitude and living style and grooms a person. The phrase education starts at home is true.

Well this is a time in era when both parents choose to work or are forced to work. People who choose the help of a nanny to take care of the child when they rush to go to work.

When kids are left on their own with no rules or restrictions , they take things for granted.. Love and affection plays a major part in a child's growth , they understand what it feels like to care and to be cared .When such a gift is deprived from their life then it does not have any importance to them later on in their life ,,

The search for something new and more adventurous makes people go to the extremes.. People are never happy with what they have, always wanting more and more.. Its the way life is projected towards them... The feeling that they would "achieve" love, money and respect but doing it differently.. Popularity..

What did education ever do for anybody besides lift them up and make their life more difficult and a living hell with all the commitments. I work 8 hours a day and make a decent wage that puts a roof over my head and food in my stomach... I'll leave all those new age jobs to you independant woman that want to make a million dollars before you're 30.. And, then when you come full circle and finially want that baby - I'll be here for you... Waiting like a patient wise gentleman..

Sure, we as a society have become so self indulgent that we also think that its fine that we not only need huge McMansions, but on top of that, we need off site you store it places for the added stuff that we can't cram into the houses. How about we just cram less food into our gullets, and cram less crap into our homes ? Its also telling that the pop culture is so completely feminised, because 85% of all discretionary consumer spending is controlled by women, and most such surgeries, and more, are done for female clients. How about you gals give us 35% of that spending money, and ease up on the Cherry Garcia ? Oh, and no more Oprah.

Because "better" is a subjective term and what you think are better choices may not be another person's better choice.

Kind of like you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink.

The world has been falling to pieces for quite some time now. Instantaneous communication just shows it more readily and there are more people.

Your basic assumption is incorrect. The level of education has NOTHING to do with "society...falling to pieces...".

People need to be held responsible for their actions. Period. If you drop out of school, don't gripe about low wages. If you get pregnant at 16, don't gripe about not having a good job.

Quit trying to educate them, people who want to learn will find a way to gain knowledge. With so many opposing ideas being taught and many instructors indoctrinating students into their beliefs instead of teaching them to think for themselves, education is doing more to confuse and reduce tolerance than teach.

"Society...falling to pieces?" What?

"Better choices?" By what standard?

This is classic Liberal thinking. You are the source, you know better than others how things should be run. Big government to enforce your plan.

This is a free country!

I think they need to start teaching Common Sense.

Some of the Q & A's on this site are quite disturbing &

make you wonder, what the heck are these people thinking?!