Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

[LunarHarvest]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

However, as R. Heinlein writes:
"Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as "empty," "meaningless," or "dishonest," and scorn to use them. No matter how "pure" their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best."

I couldn't agree more B. de Corbin. While I could go on properly long ramble on different theories regarding this, I can summarise that I think it ultimately comes down to a lacking of proper respect for authority and a likewise drift away from Communitarianism towards a more extreme disposition towards Individualism.

It is generally a similar situation in law enforcement. People are happy with the safety and security the law generally brings. They celebrate it when it protects them and their property from harm. With that said, they only continue to follow the law properly until it is 'inconvenient' to them, or seen as 'meaningless' or 'empty' by the people, and then they become angered when the law is enforced upon their infractions. Many go against the very things which allow them to live as they do.

That being said, this is not just among the youth, but also at all ages, and this can cause a domino effect in which one generations bad habits transfer on to the next generations, and so on and so forth. After all, the youth of today were educated and conditioned in proper behaviour by the adults of today, and so the roots of the issue may lie deeper than simply the teenager demographic. ::

[MontyVeda]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

I think, when we get to a certain age, we develop a romantic view of the past and a pessimistic view of the present. It's easy to see a bunch of gobby yobs outside a shop and think they represent youth culture... but what we don't see much of are the youths indoors, doing their studies or hobbies and so on. My teenage nephews are geeks... anything technology they love, anything 'real' they just don't get. It's strange seeing them permanently looking at their phones, as if 'what's going on' is in the gadget, and not out in the real world. My brother encouraged them to go outside and begrudgingly, they went out to find a wifi hotspot! It's so wrong... but when i think about what i was doing at their ages... i tend to shudder.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

As a child of the 60s, I have to admit two things.

First, a lot of good came out of that time period.

Second, so did a lot of bad.

On the theory that good manners were a tool used to keep the underdogs underdogs, and that good manners were used to separate out the elite from the proles, manners were destroyed. Not many people in the US were taught "good manners" after the hippy era.

However, as R. Heinlein writes:
"Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as "empty," "meaningless," or "dishonest," and scorn to use them. No matter how "pure" their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best."

In other words, formal politeness is what allows a multi plural society to exist, without endless murder.

It was so much easier to bring people DOWN to a certain level, but so much more difficult to bring people UP to a certain level that the difference between up & down was treated as a non-sequitur.

Manners are important. They keep us from killing each other when we disagree.

10 Polite Things People Just Don't Seem To Do Anymore

[LearningMan]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

There are also those teens who convert to Satanism/Wicca to look cool (assuming a very loose definition of cool), shock parents/society, or as an excuse to be cruel. I've thankfully never met these teens, but I fear they may make it harder for teens who actually see these religions as valid spiritual paths. I fear that teens who genuinely explore their spiritual paths could be brushed aside because of this.

[Chessa]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

We were tallking about this in one of my classes. For one thing, all anyone cares about is science and math. Schools where I live downplay, or even completely cut art and music and literatre- the things that create empathy. And empathy is the base for manners; the rest is just formality on top.

[iris]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

Or Bach. That might calm him down...

True. I prefer Beethoven to Bach, but manson is one of the only things I can fall asleep to ^^

[anunitu]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

OK,I am going to now take a nap in the middle of the day...eat your hearts out all you non retired people...lift that bale....Old man river!!!!!

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

Or Bach. That might calm him down...

[iris]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

shame. play him more Manson!

[anunitu]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

I should need a freaking hearing aid these days because I used to stand right in front of those 8 foot speakers at a concert and dance my ass off..but no,I still hear fine,go figgure.. Those speakers were so load that you could FEEL the sound pushing at you..

[Medusa]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

"I'm a black rainbow and I'm an ape of god"? that's manson... disposable teens

lol. No this was a newer song. The guy was just screaming how he was so black he was a black rainbow. It's apparently a reference to drug use. It just sounded like some kid screaming for his mom.

[iris]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

"I'm a black rainbow and I'm an ape of god"? that's manson... disposable teens

[anunitu]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

I like metal,but to be true I am a HARD rock fan..Stevie Ray Vaughan,and The red rocker... Sammy Hagar...Love Judas priest ,AC-DC,and the like...

[Medusa]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

So one of the big boys that works with us loves heavy metal music. Or some sort of screaming music. And the singer was like I AM A BLACK RAINBOW. And I'm like get that emo crap off my sales floor (we were closed at the time). He's like so Jodee, you like heavy metal? And I'm like do you see me? Does it look like I don't. Son, you don't know music till you are moshing in blood and puke. Kids these days.


(plays my manson)

[anunitu]

Re: Youth Decline Of Manners?Losing Humanity?

Hay,your talking about me...with the pot smoking and long hair and wait no draft dodging,I joined the navy before getting out and becoming a "Hippy"(Dislike that term BTW)
Street freak was the preferred term...