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5 Signs Of Societal Degeneration In America
Townhall.com ^ | November 17, 2012 | John Hawkins

Posted on 11/17/2012 7:55:51 AM PST by Kaslin

It's true that the "good old days" weren't always good, but we should also remember that our belief that we're completely superior to previous generations of Americans doesn't even remotely square with reality. It's fine to pat ourselves on the back for being wealthier, more educated and considerably less racist than we used to be, but we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that those less educated, backward people in their antiquated clothes were head and shoulders better than we are in a myriad of other ways. We should remember that the real problem isn't having a problem; it's having a problem and not even realizing that we have a problem. We have a problem and most Americans don't realize it.

1) Dependency: Our ancestors were some of the most independent people on earth. They spent months traveling across an unforgiving landscape, fought off Indians, built their own houses, ate the food they grew and carved out a life for themselves. Today, a large number of Americans are claiming that they're incapable of paying for their own birth control. There are 47 million Americans on food stamps, which is an all-time high. That's more than 1 out of every 7 Americans. Since 2008 more Americans have gone onto Social Security disability than the net number of jobs that have been created in that same time period. Within the living memory of some Americans there was no Social Security or Medicare in this country; yet we've gone from 16 workers for each retiree in 1950 to 3.3 today to an estimated 2 workers per retiree in 2025. If the money that workers paid into the system had been set aside to pay for their Golden Years, that wouldn't be so bad, but unfortunately that hasn't been done. Everything paid into the system has already been spent, which means that retirees are going to spend their Golden Years completely dependent on younger workers who'll have to pay an unthinkably high tax rate to cover the bills we’re leaving them today while they also fund the medical care and retirement of their much wealthier grandparents.

2) Debt: We've come a long way since the early days of the American republic when Thomas Jefferson had ferocious debates with Congress about whether we could afford to build a four-ship Navy to defend American shipping from the Barbary pirates. Today, even the almost half a billion dollars a year in corporate welfare that we give to PBS is considered to be a budgetary necessity in D.C. Additionally, we have a 16 trillion dollar debt that we're adding more than a trillion to every year. Despite the fact that members of both parties agree that this is "unsustainable," the most serious plan put forward to deal with it that could conceivably pass Congress (Paul Ryan's plan) wouldn't balance the budget for another 28 years and NOBODY seems to think that we can pay off the debt we already owe. By 2020, the United States is on track to need 19% of the world's GDP to fund our debt. It's frightening enough to think that we could be that dependent on other nations just to continue to function, but it's even more terrifying to realize that Washington politicians have no intent of stopping there. They intend to keep the pedal all the way down to the floorboard until we run right off a cliff into hyperinflation or default.

3) Decay In Entertainment: During WWII, when we had troops in the field, Hollywood made movies portraying them as heroes fighting for a just cause. Today, Hollywood undermines the war effort and talks about the troops like unstable drones. Actors openly encourage hatred against the country where they became rich and famous. Fifty years ago, Hollywood was much more culturally conservative and concerned about the moral values that television and movies promoted. Today, Hollywood generates a cultural sewer so rank that you'd have to go back to some of the more perverse Roman emperors to find anything comparable -- and that's before you even consider the habitual rudeness, stupidity, and ever present pornography of the Internet. You can’t expect a generation of kids who grew up without dads, never went to church, and spent their formative years watching Jersey Shore, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and anti-American garbage like Machete to produce an overabundance of model citizens.

4) Politics: As a society, we moved from expecting politicians to be better than the rest of us to expecting them to be more degenerate than the rest of us. Ted Kennedy left a woman to die in a tidal pool and was reelected. Marion Barry was reelected after being caught smoking crack. Barack Obama is the first President to be elected after admitting he used cocaine. Barney Frank had a prostitution ring run out of his apartment. Just this last election cycle, Jesse Jackson, Jr. was reelected from the Mayo Clinic. Because of the partisan leans of states and gerrymandering, for a majority of politicians, they have lifetime appointments and elections are mere formalities. Additionally, because of the corruption in Congress and the big money to be made off government decisions, serving in Congress has become a distressingly lucrative job. In 2010, the average net worth of a senator was 13.1 million dollars and the average member of the House was worth 5.9 million dollars. It's ironic that we hear so much negative talk about the "1 percent" from politicians in Congress because most of them are in the 1 percent and them majority of them got there through connections, corruption, and by handing out favors instead of earning it. If the people get the government they deserve, what does the quality of the representatives we have in Washington say about our people?

5) Marriage: Between 1890-1950 black Americans had higher marriage rates than white Americans. Since then, we’ve seen the unconscionable slaughter of more than 50 million innocent children since Roe v. Wade, an explosion of out-of-wedlock births and a deterioration of marriage. In 1900 the divorce rate in America was 8.1% while in recent years, it has hovered between 40%-50%. Additionally, the illegitimacy rate has gone up 300% just since 1970. Today, amongst under 30 women, 73% of black children, 53% of Latinos, and 29% of white children are born out-of-wedlock. Marriage in America is going through a Great-Depression-style crisis and there is nothing on the horizon that seems likely to lift us out of the tailspin.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: america; decay; dependency; hollywood; marriage; rkselection; values
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1 posted on 11/17/2012 7:56:00 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

The new “I’ve made it in life” heaven = disability at age 30. “Now I can have income for life and do my little illicit hustle on the side.”


2 posted on 11/17/2012 8:10:15 AM PST by Migraine (Diversity is great; until it happens to YOU.)
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To: Kaslin
.. and who are the symbols of societal degeneration in America? Our 1960s Marxist-Alinsky campus radical, psycho spoiled brat friends and their ideological issue who are all now the Establishment's New Normal:

Now it's our turn to "Bring it all down, man."

3 posted on 11/17/2012 8:16:15 AM PST by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: Kaslin

4 posted on 11/17/2012 8:16:16 AM PST by BenLurkin (This is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion or satire; or both)
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To: Kaslin
Romans 1: 28-32

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

5 posted on 11/17/2012 8:50:04 AM PST by patriotUSA (Thank you Jesus.)
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To: Kaslin

I don’t think people are any less racist.

I think the left has redefined racism into two categories: Politically Correct racism and Politically Incorrect Racism.

The former are loud and bold with their racism and believe it is justified and morally righteous. By the way, re-emerging anti-Semitism is a form of this PC racism.

The latter are shamed into silence and guilt and dare not utter a word against institutionalized racism such as Affirmative Action, economic justice, and social justice, which are also instances of institutionalized PC racism.


6 posted on 11/17/2012 8:51:32 AM PST by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (Prepare for survival.)
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To: Kaslin

Bookmark


7 posted on 11/17/2012 8:55:36 AM PST by Bon mots (Abu Ghraib: 47 Times on the front page of the NY Times | Benghazi: 2 Times)
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To: Kaslin
As a society, we moved from expecting politicians to be better than the rest of us to expecting them to be more degenerate than the rest of us.

What especially grates me is that the same libtards who have done so much to make society more coarse and degenerate have used the evidence of more coarseness and degeneracy to force us to accept and subsidize even more coarseness and degeneracy.

Mitt Romney left a lot to be desired politically. But as a human being, he had a proven track record of being personally kind and generous with his own time and money, and was about as opposite of a figure as BO as one could have run against BO.

He beat BO soundly in pre-election polling in every category (competence, experience, trust, ability to handle the nations problems) except one where he lost badly: who is the most like me or cares most about people like me?

We are now officially a nation with a voting majority of degenerates. God help us because outside of some areas with solid conservative majorities in flyover country, no politician is going to have the courage to do so.

8 posted on 11/17/2012 9:00:29 AM PST by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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To: Vigilanteman

I think we make a mistake if we don’t get right down to the heart of the matter of the Democrat party. It is a party that uses fear to motivate people to vote for them.
To the young people, the minorities and women they say, “Vote Democrat or the Republicans will let you starve or die of illness!”
To the women and racists they say, “Vote Democrat or the Republicans will make you and your daughters slaves to babies and increase the number of minorities in your neighborhoods!”
To the homosexuals they say, “Vote Democrat or you will be lonely and alone in your old age and the Republicans don’t care if you are!”
To the government workers they say, “Vote Democrat or the Republicans will throw you out on the street and let you starve!”
We need to point out just how cruel and crass their fear strategy is.
We can plant the seed of knowledge, but it may quickly get choked out by the Democrats and their weeds of fear. I’m not sure that you can make a 50 year old Democrat courageous. What you can do is use their fear for their benefit instead of for the Democrat party’s benefit.


9 posted on 11/17/2012 9:24:35 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: blueunicorn6

President Reagan was an expert at disarming this type of thing. He made people feel the pride and optimism that he felt in this country. He made everyone feel like they were/or could be a part of the greatness. He also used humor to deflect this type of criticism, and did it so well those that came up with it looked foolish. That is why he made liberal’s head’s explode.

Recent Republican candidates do not especially make me feel proud or optimistic, and do not make me feel part of what they want to do- I feel like I am left out or not wanted. When the libs start their mantra about the mean Republicans most of our present group of candidates put their head down and quickly apologize.


10 posted on 11/17/2012 9:33:23 AM PST by Tammy8 (~Secure the border and deport all illegals- do it now! ~ Support our Troops!~)
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe

Excellent post. Rock solid.


11 posted on 11/17/2012 10:22:23 AM PST by Psalm 144 (Voodoo Republicans. Don't read their lips. Watch their hands.)
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To: Tammy8

I agree with you.


12 posted on 11/17/2012 10:34:12 AM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: blueunicorn6

That about sums it up. Modern day leftism is a religion and the government is the god they worship. True liberty and freedom are no more.


13 posted on 11/17/2012 10:37:28 AM PST by ReformationFan
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To: Kaslin

Mark


14 posted on 11/17/2012 10:40:32 AM PST by sport
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To: Kaslin

Nice find. Thanks for posting it. Will share on social media.


15 posted on 11/17/2012 10:57:13 AM PST by walford (http://natural-law-natural-religion.blogspot.com/)
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To: Psalm 144

A great post. Clearly the politics of division—divide and conquer -—can win elections, but is it healthy? Like sending jobs overseas to make higher profits—it only works for a while—what happens when Americans can afford to buy cheap stuff? Change, real change is needed or I see a terrible fate for America. The way I see it we may go Left (the direction we are now heading) and go Communist with regulations, rationing, PC, Cults of personality, and injustice. or we will go right into a form of fascistic state—in another controlled society with a rise in employment, patriotism, but saddled with some Fearless Leader who will call all the shots—lets just hope he’s sane, more Mussolini than Adolph Hitler. The Old America died—let historian debate when it happened—I personally pick Woodstock as the date or maybe with the death of JFK or even Martin Luther King , We were killed by our own success.


16 posted on 11/17/2012 11:06:24 AM PST by Forward the Light Brigade (Into the Jaws of H*ll)
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To: patriotUSA

Which describes the left to a t


17 posted on 11/17/2012 11:46:22 AM PST by Kaslin ( One Big Ass Mistake America (Make that Two))
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To: Kaslin
"You can’t expect a generation of kids who grew up without dads, never went to church, and spent their formative years watching Jersey Shore, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, and anti-American garbage like Machete to produce an overabundance of model citizens."

...or to compete against government-connected business.

America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/16/americas-ruling-class-and-the/print

The Fragmenting of the New Class Elites, or, Downward Mobility
http://volokh.com/2011/10/31/the-fragmenting-of-the-new-class-elites-or-downward-mobility/

Environmentalism and the Leisure Class
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2835601/posts

The New Upper Class and the Real Reason We Dislike Them
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2843575/posts

Are you a member of the political class?
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/08/are_you_a_member_of_the_politi.html

Government Workers: From Public Servants to Masters
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2340226/posts


18 posted on 11/17/2012 12:35:58 PM PST by familyop (We Baby Boomers are croaking in an avalanche of rotten politics smelled around the planet.)
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To: ReformationFan

“True liberty and freedom are no more.”

One of the problems is that stigmas have been removed that prevented people from promiscuity, having children out of wedlock, etc., and it has become a race to see who can get the most “free stuff” without earning it.


19 posted on 11/17/2012 12:41:51 PM PST by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic war against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: Kaslin

Only FIVE??????

Make a list of fifty, and give me a shout.


20 posted on 11/17/2012 12:51:29 PM PST by Jack Hammer
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