[GeneticsDave]

"It was easier in the past. A man knew what it was to be a man. You stood up for things that were wrong. You had the right to do so. You were expected to do so. The way you lived, the training you put yourself through, prepared you for the inevitable confrontations, ones that could end in dismemberment or even death. Then something happened. We passed laws of decency. Lawyers became our shepherds. And what was once a fairly easy thing to understand became muddled in the bureaucracy of what we call being civilized. A man could no longer stand up to the wrongs that were around him. He had to go through courts and lawyers and trudge through miles of red tape. Woman demanded equality, and she got it. Not by getting everything the man had, but by the man being castrated in the form of order. I don't care what you say. That's not progress. It's not evolution. It's a disease, and it needs someone that understands what's at stake. Someone who can stand up like a real man and take action against injustice and unfairness in this world." - Bob Maconel, monolog from He Was a Quiet Man

 

[tapehoser]

I like it.

Makes me think that a lot of folks who've passed on already would come back and think that our moronic society had gone to pot and was nearly ripe for destruction. I think we've been on a slippery slope since the 70's and that political correctness is a disease.

Me, I try not to let the garbage and idiotic beliefs and behaviors enter my own home.

John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart sure had it right, didn't they?

 

[Cinhil]

"we've been on a slippery slope since the 70's and that political correctness is a disease." (Tapehoser)

As for Political Correctness, since I first heard of it I have called it what it is, Popular Cowardice! An embarrassment and a shame upon our society. We have a constitution which is supposed to protect our rights & allow us our God-given freedoms. Those rights are continually being trampled underfoot because this idiocy, these lawyers, and all who proclaim this pc crap to be the only civilized way to be. I believe in standing for what is right, as those who visit these pages do. I encourage all to continually stand up for right and when needed put the barbarians of this world in their place. PC does not belong in our vocabulary unless we are speaking about our computers, at least we can respect what they stand for as that is progress (unless the pc is used for evil purposes, but then anything mis-used could be considered evil by the ignorant).
I believe I have seen this and read it a couple of times in the past. It speaks volumes of truth in a few sentences. Thanks Dave.

 

[bane]

I think we've been on a slippery slope since the 70's

You're right -- But that slippery slope we all seem to recognize is there was around long before the 70's. But, like all slopes and rolling balls, it takes a little while for things to pick up speed enough to be noticeable.

There are many early-to-mid-20th Century writers that we can refer to for examples of this slope existing a whole lot earlier than it was immediately apparent. Personally, I like Ayn Rand's philosophical writings and have read her comments on late 19th and early 20th social devolution.

 

[tapehoser]

You're probably right, bane. I guess it just seems that via my life experience that things appeared to head down hill quite severely in the 70's.

But as you look back earlier than that, there were lots of folks around who made the roaring 20's out to be another decade where morals were slipping and political correctness reared it's ugly head. That said, my opinion is that the 'slipping' really began in earnest, right at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

 

[bane]

I guess it just seems that via my life experience that things appeared to head down hill quite severely in the 70's.

Yeah, I have the same perceptions from my life too. It's only been in reading and listening to other, older, people that I have realized how much further back it all began.

Your reference to the Industrial Rev. was an interesting point.
Another point to consider is the passing of the Income Tax (now, don't anyone misunderstand me... I am not using this forum to promote NOT paying your taxes... I personally am very diligent about paying my income tax and recommend everyone do so as well... but we can still talk about wrongs and rights and try to change things...) in what, 1913 I believe? That was another "collectivist" movement that played into the slipping of our society. PC is surely one of the big ones; but so is passing legislation that makes YOU think MY money is OUR money.

 

[bane]

Oh, tape, I forgot to comment on your ref. to the 20's. But I think you are dead right about that one. A lot of people think the 20's were really great -- but when you watch documentaries about how popular the flapper girls were and how they were all not eating and doing coke... well, it makes you realize that they must not have been as great as we tend to think they were in retrospect, doesn't it???

 

[Cinhil]

Bane said:

Another point to consider is the passing of the Income Tax (now, don't anyone misunderstand me... I am not using this forum to promote NOT paying your taxes... I personally am very diligent about paying my income tax and recommend everyone do so as well... but we can still talk about wrongs and rights and try to change things...) in what, 1913 I believe?

Certainly few of us were around at that time however, according to what I remember from history concerning the income tax; it was supposed to be a short term item that was to go away, similar to the toll booth situation over the golden Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, when gov't gets involved, they never give things back and it is extremely difficult to force them to stand to their word. Money speaks too easily and secured monies where they didn't have to really earn it are even more difficult to eliminate.
As for the income tax issue, though I pay, I also know that the only income we are supposed to pay on is income made from overseas investments. That said, like Bane, I pay because I am the little guy and cannot afford to fight against the might of the IRS. Since they truly aren't a part of gov't, but an alluded "functionary" of gov't they get all the support they want from the gov't in order to perpetrate their foul deeds upon innocent Americans.
If you want to blast for this fine, I don't care. So long as I know the truth I will say what I feel about abuses from the system upon the average citizen.

 

[bane]

Which is why I wish we were seeing some serious talk about the Fair Tax... but as of yet I'm not aware of any of the major candidates backing it...

 

[xmirage2kx]

PC = TEOTWAWKI