What we have lost

I was sitting here watching an old episode of Andy Griffith with Buddy Epson as a guest star and was thinking about how the plot would be considered trite in todays "woke" society. Buddy was a tramp who was leading Opie down a bad path and chose in the end to remedy that by using himself as a bad example. The stark contrast in light of modern morals is a sad state in my opinion.

Yup. Much like people tried to collect every accessory for a classic car, these days people are putting together complete vintage computer systems.

Also, dot matrix printers of the more common models stayed in production a lot longer than you’d think. For example, the Okidata 92 line is still around - you can still buy them new from Oki - and they’re nowhere near out of demand. Multipart forms still require dot matrix printers and some companies don’t seem interested in changing their dependency on those.

I was raised on Roy Rodgers, the Lone Ranger, Mighty Mouse, Superman, and all manner of other patriotic shows where good always triumphed over evil and every show had a moral message. Fathers were the wisest members of the house and children usually wound up in trouble in a way that Dad had to teach them a moral lesson.

Today, TV is one long running bathroom/gutter/fart/sexual joke. I can’t explain anything to Millenials, because they have no moral base for me to work with. Not to say they have no morals, but when I try to explain to them the moral foundation I was raised with, it is such a foreign concept to them, it goes right over their heads and they have no ability to comprehend it.

When I tell Millenials we are a much less moral nation than when I was born, they get offended and outraged and can’t see what I mean.

We were polite. We had manners. We stopped our cars for pedestrians. People waved when you did someone a favor in a car. We held doors open for people behind us, especially the elderly. You could walk around town at midnight without fear of violence, rape, or mugging. Many people did not lock their doors at night. You usually did not keep your car doors locked because there was no theft.

Not in my city, but in many places in America people had rifles sitting in gun racks in the cab of their trucks, doors unlocked, and nobody molested the truck to steal the guns.

There were no homeless. There was little apparent poverty. I am not aware that of any large societal drug problems. Kids were respectful to teachers. People respected teachers, scientists, and the police.

The genii cannot be put back in the box. You reap what you sow. The 60s hippies were hell bent on destroying norms and making every lifestyle choice as noble as another. All stigmas were banned. Divorce, illegitimacy, being on the welfare doll, being an unemployed slob, living with your parents into your 30s, being a ne’er do well, having illicit gains, being a con man, killing your babies — these were all stigmatized in a past America when we were still a moral people.

Democracies only last around 200 years. We are right on schedule for collapse. Right on schedule.

Boy, if you think officers were disrespected on the Andy Griffith show, you should have seen “Car 54 Where Are You?”

lol

The 1950s and 1960s were the end of Hollywood being driven by conservative America, and the very budding beginnings of embracing liberalism. It was subtle, sparse, and toned-down. Of course every TV show began to turn liberal in the 1960s. By today’s standards however, it is light years more conservative.

“Modern Morals” are a reflection back to the Depression days when the immorality of the post WWI era (The roaring 20’s) was rejected.

The morals of the forefathers were the extreme during their colonial days—thus, they were driven out of Europe. These “morals” made their way into the fabric of parts of the new world.

Settlers moved west at first to get away from their oppressive parents—and that spirit can be found in the US West today.

So, your supposition that the US was full of moral stalwarts since its founding is incorrect. The recent morality was imposed during the depression and as a result of the carnage that our vets saw in Europe and the Pacific.

The second thing is that with the introduction of the internet, immorality can be delivered directly to your desktop or home with a little tap on your phone screen.

The third thing is the complete destruction of the traditional Mom-Dad-Two Kid family unit.

But, things are not as bad as you think. Every time there is a crisis and the media is full of people helping people locally—that stuff hasn’t changed. Babies are born and baptized every day. My church remains full and thriving.

I think we are reading the “man bites dog” news; which is unusual by definition. The majority of the US world is little different in most ways from the way it was when we were children. And in a lot of ways, its better (Better medical, better communication, better food....)

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