3.
Why has it happened?
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As this article will be a bit longer than the previous ones here is
a cup of coffee to keep you going!
The
last articles have given some brief statement on why
society is depreciating but here is some more detail.
What has caused the sinful world around us.
Do you want your grandchildren to live in a depraved society even
worse than this one?'
In what direction has society gone in the last 50 years?
From a Christian ethic to no ethics
From self discipline to assert your personality.
From wanting a balanced lifestyle to wanting money and goods.
From family as focus of life to quick pleasure from sex.
From balanced expenditure to obeying advertisers.
From individual value system to peer pressure.
From disciplined apportionment of time between work and leisure
to work all hours.
From healthy eating to unhealthy eating of what is advertised.
From a belief in absolute truth to a belief that there is no absolute
truth.
From a society where people help each other to a society where we
are scared of a law suite being brought against us.
From everyone using fire extinguishers to only firemen being allowed
to. This is based on what a policeman said but I find it impossible
to believe.
From everyone helping someone who has had an accident to only qualified
first aiders being allowed to
What direction do we want it to go in?
To a society that has high ethics and moral standards, selfless
towards others, self disciplined and generous. Working hard but that work
balanced with leisure and family life. Children brought up in families
that care and can encourage and love their children.
Who has caused the mis-direction of Society?
Social Scientists, teachers, the media, advertisers, fund managers
and city analysts, politicians.
All these have some measure of responsibility but no one group of
people can be responsible. It is a combination of factors that have worked
together in the Western countries. These include the UK, USA, Europe, Australia
and New Zealand. Following our lead has been Japan and the new Russian
states.
Social Scientists and Psychologists. I was at
school during world war 2 and I can remember that after the war society
was prepared to listen to the Social Scientists when they decreed that
people should not be subject to self discipline and self control but should
be free to develop themselves, uninhibited by rules of behaviour. This
set the scene for our present unruly behaviour in classrooms where 3 generations
down the line young people are responding to this teaching. The idea that
psychological punishment is better than physical punishment has brought
us to the point where parents are told not to smack a child and policemen
cannot clip a teenagers ear. Instead they are brought through the psychological
trauma of law courts and suspension from school. Non-professionals
in this field are convinced that a little physical slap is better than
weeks of psychological trauma. I suppose it will take another 2 generations
for the professionals to see this! A case of hard cases making bad
law.
Teachers. After the war the shortage of teachers brought
many who were inadequate into that profession. They readily took up the
Social Scientists teaching, probably lacking in stable maturity themselves,
and so the seeds for Political Correctness and so on were sown.
The Media. Much blame has to land with the media. They encourage
immorality and greed. They use pornography and sensationalism to sell newspapers.
It is rare that a play, soap, or comedy can be watched or listened to by
families or respectable people. Sex and bad language always seem
to creep in encouraging immorality and the deterioration of society.
One highlight was when the actress Kathy Staff, formerly of ITV 1's
Crossroads ( which used to be a nice programme), said she had turned down
a new part in it because of the way sex was to be brought into it.
She also turned down a part in the West End (of London) because she was
expected to use bad language. I understand that there are complaints
being made against EastEnders (BBC1) for the part sex and drugs now play
in it. The media must take a huge responsibility for the breakdown
of family life, divorce, single parentage, demands on small housing and
social security payments, use of illegal drugs and violence. There
is no brake on them whatever except what the shareholders want. People
imitate what they see despite what the Media companies say about it having
no effect. They say they are only reflecting what society is like
today. But why use that excuse to encourage such behaviour?
To make money for shareholders of course.
Advertisers. We have always had advertising but it has become
more and more powerful with TV following newspapers. Advertising can be
useful in promoting and informing but it has become too persuasive, often
using sex as a medium for persuasion. Often aimed at young people, is often
immoral in itself, exploiting parents inability to control their children.
Fund managers and city analysts. The making of money for their
sponsors has become the overriding task, ignoring a stability from use
of morality and ethics. Pressure from the City has reached down within
industry and commerce to put unfair pressure on workers to work unreasonably
hard and for unreasonable hours.
Politicians. Under pressure from the groups above the politicians
have to tread a narrow path. To keep their jobs (their first priority it
seems) they have to please all the above groups! Sir Fred Catherwood
in a book published in 1991 quotes MPs as being 'mere lobby-fodder'.
So we have three sandwiches: The Stock Exchange, fund managers and
city analysts sandwiched between Shareholders and Business.
The Media sandwiched between the Stock Exchange and readers and
viewers.
Politicians sandwiched between the media, lobbyists and constituents.
End of Article 3. ....... February 2002.