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Decline in society; morals etc

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Can anyone explain this? Is it something to do with our ability as individuals to be not restricted to anything; that we are free to live our lives as we like?

'Fuck off' is said so often now, it's appaling compared to in the last century. People used to be shocked. Now it's just commonplace! I personally don't like swearing and don't really do it that much; though I do sometimes. The decline in manners, people being polite and the importance of social ettiquette I think is an issue in today's society often 'overlooked' in preference of more demanding issues.

Nothing they say in parliament can change it back though I don't think; it's about how polite you are to your friends. It's a social thing; up to the individual people. I beleive (and I hate to place the blame) that it stems from the freedom young people had in America; especially during/after WW2. When there were particularly bad crime problems in some places the people with the most influence + fear had the most power + respect. I think that people picked up on this and in order to gain a little respect from other people, resorted to intimidation tactics rather than courtesy etc.

As America is the general role model for Europe (or so it seems) it spread over here. I don't see the problem getting any better though because the problem that it's good to be intimidating (or 'hard') by swearing a lot and generally being rude is already here. Perhaps we should try encouraging people that it's cool to be polite? I know it's never done me any wrong (apart from aformentioned people, who were quite nasty).

Comments?

Comments

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Heh, people have been complaining about a 'moral decline' for many years but fail to state why these 'values' need to be upheld!!

    For example, they cite gay rights as a symptom of this! Who is to say that gays shouldn't have civil rights??
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You know what when I visited the South for some perculiar reason swearing didnt sound too bad, you could tell they were just speaking and not trying to look big by saying *Fuck Off*, I cant really explain it but it just seemed as though they were not trying to be hard.
    Now some people swear where I live and you can see they are using it just to *look hard*, if you know what I mean.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Lucky_Day
    You know what when I visited the South for some perculiar reason swearing didnt sound too bad, you could tell they were just speaking and not trying to look big by saying *Fuck Off*, I cant really explain it but it just seemed as though they were not trying to be hard.
    Now some people swear where I live and you can see they are using it just to *look hard*, if you know what I mean.

    i agree, in some circumstances people have actually been brought up with this type of language thinking its normal. But it's the root of this which is the cause for concern. We can't really turn the clock back now anyway because those people will teach their children these words + more. Another parallel is the wide acceptance of poor English; that if you convey what you want to say it's ok. This is ok in the short term but in the long term the English language will become full of slang and all the 'eloquent' parts would have gone.

    I'd also like to raise the point of how sex isn't treated with the same respect it used to be; which I think is very bad. In the past a lot of things were bad but there were nowhere near the amount of teenage pregnancies, single parent families and things like that.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yeah your right as far as the sex is compared, I think many people grow up far too quick these days, they look older, act older and are not kids anymore.
    The times have changed !!!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well morals are all relative. I'm infinitely more concerned about social justice than swearing for instance. And whereas I won't pretend there are no problems today, I'd rather choose rude manners and swearing over sexism, racism, homophobia and general bigotry and intolerance- which in my book show a rather more worrying lack of morals and humanity than swearing.

    And as it happens I like a certain amount of swearing at the right time. I cannot overstate the importance and beauty of the word 'fuck' in all its variations. It enriches the English language wonderfully. If only we had an equivalent in Spanish...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i don't think our morals have got worse as a society, we are more civilised than ever, i just think there's a widening gap between "evil" and "good" people, we'll always be complaining about the good ole days, even us wen we're old, ah shit.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What these social conservatives don't realise is that times change!!

    So attitudes towards sex are different? Those are simply the times we live in!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    There was NO golden age, things were never perfect, society was never this perfect place with PC plod wandering around the vilage green keeping law and order.

    We are ALL richer than we have EVER been, the rich are getting richer, but so are the poor.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Re: Decline in society; morals etc
    Originally posted by TheShyBoyInTheCorner


    'Fuck off' is said so often now, it's appaling compared to in the last century. People used to be shocked. Now it's just commonplace!

    I would say that often people say 'Ahhh fuck off' as a term of endearment rather than an insult!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Words only have the power we give them, so if the power of 'fuck' is changing then it will no longer have the power to offend, which is surely a good thing.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I didn't say there was a golden age; I said respect for other people (in my opinion) has reduced. Everyone used to chip in for their community but now community spirit is dying out. Everyone is more concerned about themselves nowadays - I think the world is a more selfish place now.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by TheShyBoyInTheCorner
    I didn't say there was a golden age; I said respect for other people (in my opinion) has reduced. Everyone used to chip in for their community but now community spirit is dying out. Everyone is more concerned about themselves nowadays - I think the world is a more selfish place now.

    I agree with you on the lack of community spirit, but how could we increase that?

    As for swearing... sometimes it can be playful and isn't always nasty. For example your friend does something annoying... like tickle you or make a playful comment and you reply "fuck you!" or "bitch!"... I mean it doesn't mean you don't respect them... does it?

    Plus words change meaning and are applied differently over time. For example the word "dyke" is often proudly worn by lesbians when a while back it would have been seen as offensive. Or "bitch"... I've heard women be proud that they're a bitch.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by TheShyBoyInTheCorner
    Everyone used to chip in for their community but now community spirit is dying out. Everyone is more concerned about themselves nowadays - I think the world is a more selfish place now.

    thats thatchers fault
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    People no longer have pride in themselves or their communities.

    So we must rebuild them.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    .
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