Civilization
The only thing that separates us from the animals is that fact that we live in a civilized society (well, that and opposable thumbs). A civilized society can only exist if the people within it follow an agreed upon set of rules.
This leads me to the conclusion that we no longer live in a civilized society.
We live in a society. It is just no longer a civilized one.
I am not sure what happened to cause this shift. People may point to television or the media. Others would point to the deterioration of the family or family values. Still others would suggest it is the inevitable downward spiral of humanity. Whatever your belief, one has to acknowledge the fact we do not live in a polite society. I say polite because that what it means to be civilized. It means taking another persons feelings or comfort into consideration when making our own decisions.
I think that since the Baby Boom, after World War II, American society has been slowly getting more and more self centered and selfish. It is this single minded obsession with one’s self that has caused the disappearance of civility. Selfishness is the opposite of being polite.
The greatest problem I foresee with this situation is that there is no fix to the situation. I have found the more polite I am the more people try to take advantage of it. Rude people rely on the silence of those around them. They depend on the fact that no one is going to say anything to them when they cut in line or talk loudly on their cell phones. These days it is actually becoming dangerous to speak up. People are so confrontational, angry and unpredictable; it can literally be life threatening to confront a stranger about a situation.
I am not one of those people who idealize the past. There have always been rude and inconsiderate people. It is that our modern society seems to have built up a tolerance for it. There is a general lack of outrage at most, if not all, lack of social graces and rude behavior. It is only in the most extreme cases that people speak up.
The fact that I am genuinely surprised to encounter kindness is a telling sign. So I am resolved to be as polite as I can and to go out of my way to do a good deed at least once a week. So, next time a stranger holds the elevator for you or lets you go ahead in traffic, it might just be me. Of course, I might also be the guy at the movie theatre yelling at the person on the cell phone.
This leads me to the conclusion that we no longer live in a civilized society.
We live in a society. It is just no longer a civilized one.
I am not sure what happened to cause this shift. People may point to television or the media. Others would point to the deterioration of the family or family values. Still others would suggest it is the inevitable downward spiral of humanity. Whatever your belief, one has to acknowledge the fact we do not live in a polite society. I say polite because that what it means to be civilized. It means taking another persons feelings or comfort into consideration when making our own decisions.
I think that since the Baby Boom, after World War II, American society has been slowly getting more and more self centered and selfish. It is this single minded obsession with one’s self that has caused the disappearance of civility. Selfishness is the opposite of being polite.
The greatest problem I foresee with this situation is that there is no fix to the situation. I have found the more polite I am the more people try to take advantage of it. Rude people rely on the silence of those around them. They depend on the fact that no one is going to say anything to them when they cut in line or talk loudly on their cell phones. These days it is actually becoming dangerous to speak up. People are so confrontational, angry and unpredictable; it can literally be life threatening to confront a stranger about a situation.
I am not one of those people who idealize the past. There have always been rude and inconsiderate people. It is that our modern society seems to have built up a tolerance for it. There is a general lack of outrage at most, if not all, lack of social graces and rude behavior. It is only in the most extreme cases that people speak up.
The fact that I am genuinely surprised to encounter kindness is a telling sign. So I am resolved to be as polite as I can and to go out of my way to do a good deed at least once a week. So, next time a stranger holds the elevator for you or lets you go ahead in traffic, it might just be me. Of course, I might also be the guy at the movie theatre yelling at the person on the cell phone.
posted by The Sherpa | 10/27/2006 10:25:00 AM
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