Is America disintegrating?

[Furball]

its all eminems fault. him and his mean lyrics

[Dune]

In my year and a half as a prosecutor, I have seen things that defy imagination. I have seen the worst that a person can do to another. Often just because they can. You can read those stories, you can even see the pictures...but until you're face to face with a 16 year old girl who has been raped, asking her to relive every detail so you'll be able to convince a judge that the defendant is guilty...You cannot imagine the pain you see.

And I cannot express my anger at someone who would do this.  But many times it's all they know.  Brutality begats brutality. Boys see their fathers treat their mothers and other woman like **** and do the same. Girls see their moms beaten because the food is cold and figure that is just how life is and accept it themselves. And the cycle continues.  The strong dominate the weak.  And it's ok.

Sure, especially in the juvenile world, we try to stop this behavior before it becomes a lifestyle. If an offender can be rehabilitated, and truly wants to be, then by all means let's give them the help they need. Let's try to break the cycle in this instance.  But too often they don't care.

Some kids never see the way out.  They don't know anyone who made it out of their ****-hole existance.  And if they do, it's someone that their buddies picked on becuase they weren't cool enough.

It's going to take more than money and education.  It's going to take a shift in mentality.  It's not ok to hit women.  It's not ok to sing songs about rape (I just had a case where a 12 year old boy forced a 6 year old to perform oral sex on him becuase he heard about it on a rap cd...no toejam).  Getting an education is a good thing.  Stop having sex at 15 and have a baby at 16 is not a good thing......I could go on and on.  It's not money.  It's not education.  Or, it's not them alone.  This country needs a shift in mentality.  Or, and pardon me for saying this, but this country needs to pull its morals out of the gutter.

[Syzygyone]

Our youth now have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room;
they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.

(Socrates, 5th Century BC)  

I'd also look to the producers/director of that movie and ask yourself if they had a left wing message to preach?

In short, relax.

And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Max Erhman 1927 (1872-1945, a Harvard philosopher and lawyer)

[Syzygyone]

I too have had some significant modicum of experience prosecuting criminals.  Been a fed for over 20 years.  I've recently expanded my horizons to looking for terrorists.  Lots and lots of bad guys out there!

Your post was thought provoking and I'd like to share a few thoughts:

1) Don't let your immersion into the gutter blind you to the good, the really good, that there is in the world and in today's youth especially.  

2) Don't think for a second that what you describe is endemic to this nation alone, or this generation.

3) Shed your preconceived notions of what should be and understand that you are now on the front lines defending the incredibly fragile thing we call social order.  Don't get mad, Don't get incensed, Dont' get scared.  Do gain resolve to continue doing your job the best you can.  If enough of us continue to do the jobs necessary to keep the fragile order working, then we will be okay.  If enough of us start wringing our hands, and wailing and nashing our teeth, then we will perish.

4) Lead by example, teach your children, Strive to do great things.  As Capt. Miller's closing line of Private Ryan goes..."Earn this."

[Maverick]

At the risk of being labeled a "right winger", kids are worse today than  they were 40 years ago. That does not mean all of them are bad. The bad ones are the ones that get the press and movies. You know there WERE quite a few OTHER kids in Columbine but you never hear about them do you.

The conflict in Iraq is a good example that quite a few of our "kids" have matured in a responsible  manner. The examples shown in the "embedded" press are great reminders that we should not just concentrate on spotlighting the bad kids and should recognize the good ones.

Hollywierd is NOT a common view of society. As they say, never let the truth get in the way of a story. I suppose CNN might use that for a "defense".

[mietla]

Originally posted by funkedup
Too many kids being raised by one or zero biological parents.  And the parents that stick around are often addicted and/or abusive.  What we need is a MOAB filled with birth control.

Family is such a old fashioned concept. Marriage is slavery.

[john9001]

when i was a teenager we played Russian roulette with a blank firing starters pistol, the "loser" had to chug his beer, and yes , only use ONE round.

i live in a muliti-racial, muliti-ethnic apt complex,almost all the kids are just normal kids and they all play together, even the adults get along, maybe i'm just lucky.

[beet1e]

Hey Urchin!  I saw that movie. A 10-187 - is that a police code meaning that someone is down or shot?

Yes, things have gone bad - over here as well. My brother is a teacher, and his lament is that each year's new intake of children is worse than the last. What an indictment!

Now he is at a new school, where most of the children have 2 parents, and... - Vive la différence!

Some of us can remember the laisser faire nature of the hippie days of the 1960s - total abdication of responsibility. All that Tune in, drop out, turn on crap. And the thing of it is - the children borne of that era are the parents of today. No wonder there are problems.

Still, Urchin is cool, and demonstrates that civilisation has not completely gone to pot.

[StSanta]

Mietla is a man of wise words.

Listen to 'im Rip. You're still semi-young and have a couple (one) good years left in you. Not too late to get out.

[mietla]

Originally posted by john9001
... we played Russian roulette with a blank firing starters pistol...

Russian roulette with a pistol? That's smart. I bet you've loaded only "one bullet", right?

[Rasker]

Still, I recall that Chicago was running about 5,000 murders a year a century ago.  A lot lower now 90-95%.  So we must be doing something better than then, at least.  Still, violent crime is 4 times higher than in the 50's too, so we have done things better than we are now, too.

[john9001]

revolvers are called pistols, you might have a hard time getting a blank to cycle a auto-loader.

[Sox62]

Originally posted by mietla
Russian roulette with a pistol? That's smart. I bet you've loaded only "one bullet", right?

Wouldn't matter if they played the way this guy did....


(28 February 2000, Texas) A Houston man earned a succinct lesson in gun safety when he played Russian roulette with a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Rashaad, nineteen, was visiting friends when he announced his intention to play the deadly game. He apparently did not realize that a semiautomatic pistol, unlike a revolver, automatically inserts a cartridge into the firing chamber when the gun is cocked. His chance of winning a round of Russian roulette was zero, as he quickly discovered.

[Sandman]

I think nostalgia is a terrible thing.

[Airhead]

Urchin, I don't know if America is disintegrating, but based upon your description of that movie I think it's safe to say America's film industry is disintegrating.

God, what a stupid idea for a movie.