Society is taking a turn for the worse. Many turns for the worse if you ask me.
There are nearly countless ways in which society as a whole is declining, and I could write blogs and blogs about each one. Today is not the day though. There is one particular aspect that I find most disturbing and has disastrous ramifications for our future.
Abdication of responsibility.
The current societal mindset would censure anyone who emphasizes responsibility and accountability for our own actions. Rather we glorify those who successfully pass the buck, elevating them to heights never before seen. Professionals in just about every industry have grown fat and rich by latching into this ideology. Law suits in which "victims" seek to aggrandize their lives by forgoing any responsibility for their actions are the order of the day. Entertainment programs focusing on making off with the most loot as possible, with no responsibility for the actions while playing the "game" have not only increased in popularity but also in amount. Movies, television shows and music now often focus more on feeding our sense of entitlement, at least if it wants to be popular.
No one wants to admit that every action has a consequence. Or at least they seem to believe they should be immune to the consequences.
And this will destroy us.
Am I being melodramatic in saying that? I think not. More than one great leader has fallen because he/she either failed to consider or refused to accept that their actions would also have consequences. Families fall apart because, in the heat of the moment, someone forgot that their actions would have terrible consequences. Harsh, thoughtless words and even violent actions are employed because we either don't care or don't consider what will come of them.
Sexual promiscuity is upheld as a "right", as a part of an increasing independence. What we fail to emphasize are the horrifying results of such promiscuity. Disease, fatherless/motherless children, drugs, homelessness, and abuse are all the fruits of such sexual promiscuity. We have cheapened the act to nothing more than a carnal, animalistic coupling that serves no other purpose than to satisfy the base urges of those who participate. No longer is it something reserved as an expression of love between husband and wife.
And no one wants to be responsible for their actions or own up to their consequences.
I won't argue that folks have a right to live how they want. We all have our agency to make our own choices. But at some point, and hopefully sooner rather than later, we must realize that the exercise of our agency does not release us of responsibility for our actions. The more we utilize our agency the more responsibility we earn.
It is about time we started teaching responsibility rather than entitlement.