DISHONESTY Where is America HeadingLast week I saw a newscast about a boy who dropped his wallet in a shopping center parking lot. Another customer picked up the wallet and although he saw the boy who dropped it, he went directly into his car. Video cameras caught this man going through the wallet and taking out the cash the boy had saved which was about $100. The boy is shown running back to see where he dropped his wallet and the same image shows the man (the thief) taking out the cash in his SUV. Today an engaged couple were video taped walking down a busy boulevard. The woman playfully jumped on her fiance. Her fiance gave her a diamond bracelet that was very expensive. Somehow the bracelet fell off. But the video tape clearly shows another woman pick up the bracelet, turn around to say "het you dropped your bracelet". BUT when she sees it is diamonds, this woman shuts up and takes the diamond bracelet. The couple is devastated. Why are there so many dishonest people in our society? It makes you wonder how these dishonest people were brought up and what a good role model these people are to their children. No wonder we see a lot of people who will not take responsibility for their actions. It is a blameless society. Is there no shame in taking what is not yours? Do you think it is OK to knowingly take what is not yours - especially if you know the person who lost it? I can understand if you found something on the street with No identification as to who the owner is BUT how can one just take something they know is not theirs? Yes, it' s disgusting and all too common. It seems that the "me" generation has developed into the thief generation as few see anything wrong in taking what doesn' t belong to them. Of course, most of this is an outgrowth of our celebrity culture that rewards bad behavior. Almost weekly there is a "reality" show capturing some jerk urinating in the coffee because he' s mad at somebody. The sad news is that people watch these shows, raising ratings and driving the producers to find more and increasingly bad behaviors. Years ago there was an argument about showing the Vietnam War casualties during the 6 pm news. 6 pm was dinner time was a whole lot of us back then. The argument against showing the footage was that it would, over time, make the viewer immune to the tragedy and slaughter. It did. And that "immuity" seems to have spread to cover just above other aspect of bad behavior. Yet, like much that is wrong with the country we the people seem hesistant to take a stand. Just think about that Senator Craig guy and him sitting on a toilet bowl,trying to make contact. This image is a SYMBOL of where America is going. There are toilets bowls everywhere. Dishonesty = lack of personal ethics Dishonesty = lack of personal moral standard Lack of personal ethics and morals are caused by disintegration of social values, personal respect, principals, and agreed to standards. The fact is that we do not collectively agree to what is of value or correct in personal behavior so we have a lassaize faire society. As a society we have not kept up, it is simple. The introduction of technology has reduced barriers. Cultural barriers, ethnic barriers, country barriers -- all have been brought down. At the same time economic barriers have risen; the rich are gaining in wealth while the middle class is shrinking and the poor are getting poorer. Education is becoming more elitist every decade. Media is driving our standards - news is Britany Spears rather than the Presidential elections. As a country we willing shed our freedoms for perceived "security". We willingly follow any "pop" psychologist and the latest fad to "self-actualization" rather than hard work. We are going backward in our public face following televangelists to heaven rather than with our money rather our good works. Churches no longer serve their communities but are the base for political actions. Homelessness is growing. Illiteracy is growing. Personal responsibility is no longer something to be taken seriously but a buck to be passed at the first opportunity. Dishonesty? Wow, I bet if you asked the two people in question they did not feel a twinge of guilt for their actions. I am not sure if this message belongs on this Thread or not. I heard on the ABC news the other day that domestic violence has been increasing lately! Why - you ask? Because with the start of the football season, many men get so caught up in the game while they guzzle down their booze (usually beer) that they get incensed and furious when their wives and kids "bother" them while they are watching their heros run around the field. They batter them. The game is more important than life itself. The heck with their families! This is just one example of a very sick society. There' s too much attention and homage given to a bunch of talented football stars who get paid obscene amounts of money to play the game. Remember O.J. Simpson and our friend, Michael Vick. "It seems that the "me" generation has developed into the thief generation as few see anything wrong in taking what doesn' t belong to them. Of course, most of this is an outgrowth of our celebrity culture that rewards bad behavior." Not only has the "me" generation developed into the thief generation, they' ve tried to pass on their rightly earned label onto today' s children. Just recently, they tried to use things like studies on ' vanity' to pass off their label onto the early-20s, late teens crowd. I sometimes wonder how we went from the Greatest Generation to the Me Generation. If the Greatest Generation was/is so great, how did we end up with Baby Boomers being what they are? Their parents are still the Greatest to me. I see them as what turned this country into a superpower. Other than continuing the advancement of civil rights, I see their children as the one pioneering financial, political, structural, and moral decay. This country is going to be paying debt left by the Me Generation for decades after the last one has left this world. All, "...we the people seem hesitant to take a stand." Well, we are the people and we are not afraid to take a stand. And for every little arrogant gangster out there, there are a hundred of us who may not announce ourselves but who act in many ways to counter this ignorance and arrogance. We may not get press coverage or sell magazines but we are no less a factor and no less important. We are not as exciting. We have responsibilities which we acknowledge and take care of and we also care about our communities even if we are disgusted by the deterioration we see. We also know that we have to vote our consciences for the best reasons. We bring light and not so much heat. There are more of us than there are of them. We win. I work in a hotel/casino and I have heard some really bad horror stories about people who have lost a lot of cash on the casino floor. I am not talking about losing money to gambling but to thieves. Mostly it is women who place their purses on the floor in front of the slot machine or they leave their wallets sitting on the side of the slot machine. Many of them have anywhere between $200 to $10,000 in them. What these people do not realize is that Las Vegas like any other gambling town has a lot of con artists working the floors. So, women, NEVER ever leave your purse or wallter unattended. Here' s how a thieft works. A person walks up to you and starts a conversation. He/she drops a coin and you discover it. You then bend down to pick up the coin to give it back to its owner. While you did that, a second person comes along and steals your purse! Before you know it, your vacation and gambling money is LONG gone. I cannot tell you how many of these incidents I have heard of. One was of a family from Europe. They came to Las Vegas to see relatives. The man set his billfold on top of a slot machine and it was stolen. Looking at the security tapes, it clearly showed a man BUT his face was concealed with a baseball cap and sunglasses. I was told it had something like $8,000 in the billfold. In certains parts of the United States, people still leave their cars and homes unlocked. When I tell these people to lock it up they seem surprised. I grew up in S. California. If you do not lock up your property, EXPECT it to be stolen. I wonder, too, if the lousy economy might have something to do with the recent increase in domestic violence. When other stressors are present, domestic violence rises. Adding alcohol can always fuel the flame, of course. | |
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