Has U. S. society/culture deteriorated beyond repair?

[Beachguyj]

No it hasn't.

 

[unclaimedblessing]

When i was a kid and we got our first TV, it was a phenomenon.

My Dad said "You watch, they'll find a way to charge us for this". I thought parents were uncool and didn't know anything worth my knowing.

Then we just plugged in the TV and watched. Now you need a dish or cable service to watch TV. The service provided costs more than the actual TV and the service costs are raised annually.

Yeah, I know we get newer movies without commercials, but those movies would have eventually come to network tv and commecials are a great time to go to the bathroom, get a snack, pick out your clothes for the next day, or make a quick phone call.

This might not seem like it meets the OP's criteria but to me it indicates our apathy toward corporate greed and consequently does affect our society and culture.

 

[Wafflecakes]

I have never really bought doomsday scenarios. In general I think for everything that gets worse something else gets better simply because it is all based around human nature....and human nature doesn't change.

 

[pat grimshaw]

(I notice mydrew1 hasn't answered my charge from posts #52 and 53)

 

[SLOPPYSECONDS]

I have never really bought doomsday scenarios. In general I think for everything that gets worse something else gets better simply because it is all based around human nature....and human nature doesn't change.

humans climb out trees ans stuff

but da cost fa um ans now only home they a got just a suck their thumb

defo da cream of civlizations/cultures/woteva lands wanna sell fa it missin a bit up top

theys can a park da car 10000 years ago easy
but stills folk goin
noooooo back up bit noooo bit right nooo bit left

cream is stoooopid morons a much of many a thang of much sick of fuckheads tooos a be across planet

here bonus

thankyou

 

[Treborf]

Our tract house went on the market in 1951 with 1200 square feet, three bedroom, one bath, $11,750. Today, the house itself is probably worth $100,000, but the property, walking distance to the Pacific Ocean and gay Surfrider State Beach is worth over a million bucks. I rest my case.

Huh? The property is worth so much more because of economic growth in (what I assume is) California and the accompanying increased demand. That has nothing to do with cultural deterioration.

 

[bankside]

Now you can not tell a Toyota from a Taurus, and that is because [STRIKE]of greed and a lack of willingness to show creativity in what we Americans do. [/STRIKE]no matter where you build a car, aerodynamics is the same everywhere, even for Americans!

Fixed that for you.

 

[KrisHawkXXX]

They're probably having sex with their dads.

thts hot lol

 

[EasyRory]

. Nowadays, anyone without at least an undergrad degree is destined to a life of minimum wage employment.

To the extent this is true, it is because the value of a high school diploma has been destroyed. There are lots of jobs that do not require a college degree but the requirement is specified in order to hire someone who is reasonably competent in high school subjects.

 

[KariRandall]

You can't win, unless superior inanity is the prize.

And if that's the prize you want to claim, you'll have to fight a couple of people on here for it.

I am taking the prize of superior inanity, but the competition has been rugged. I would like to thank my agent, the studio, and most of all myself for being perfect for the role........

 

[KariRandall]

No it hasn't.

When a guy like me can walk with the award for superior inanity in this thread, you do have deterioration in U. S. society/culture, and you know it!

 

[KariRandall]

Huh? The property is worth so much more because of economic growth in (what I assume is) California and the accompanying increased demand. That has nothing to do with cultural deterioration.

The point is that what was a basic house designed for returning WWII military to start a family where your kids could walk down and enjoy the beach, now takes an income as a member of the wealthiest 1% of our nation to afford.

Based upon the current charge for a million dollar mortgage, payment on the property would be about $10,000 a month, how many Americans do you think could fit that comfortably into their household budget? Duh? 1%?

I'd call that a cultural change in the Santa Monica/Pacific Palisades area in the last 60 years wouldn't you?

1200 square foot, 3 bedroom, 1 bath, million dollar home.
Maybe stairs to the Pacific Ocean have something to do with it.​

 

[Treborf]

The point is that what was a basic house designed for returning WWII military to start a family where your kids could walk down and enjoy the beach, now takes an income as a member of the wealthiest 1% of our nation to afford. Based upon the current charge for a million dollar mortgage, payment on the property would be about $10,000 a month, how many Americans do you think could fit that comfortably into their household budget? Duh? 1%?

I thought this was about US society / culture deteriorating, not how the culture of Pacific Palisades has changed.

It is indeed true that only a privileged few can afford to own some of the most desirable land in the country. That is the nature of capitalism and scarcity -- that same dynamic existed 60 years ago. What changed was the desirability of the Santa Monica/Pacific Palisades area. Again, your grievance has nothing to do with cultural deterioration.

 

[RobinGoodfellow]

I have no idea what your post means, but I will dumb mine down.

How about respond with something vaguely applicable to the post to which you quote? I get that the vehicle shows how things have deteriorated, but not what the car has to do with some kind of racially-based privilege.

As for the homes, whereas I agree that you need a certain income in order to afford a large home in a preferred location, that's pretty much been the case for quite a few years. Now, if it were a decent home in a decent location and the average cost was about $1M, then you would have a case. However, buying a decent home is still a realizable dream, and in fact easier to do thanks to the real estate problems.

Overall, for material belongings, Americans are doing very well, even if you can debate it based on a car you like not being available....

RG

 

[bankside]

Is this secretly a thread about overpopulation? Cause in 1951 the US population was a bit more than half of what it is now.

All those extra people crowding in, and no more coastline as far as i know, makes the price of real estate go crazy.

 

[unclaimedblessing]

Another indicator of cultural/societal deterioration is grafitti.

Grafitti has been around for centuries and previously it was usually used to convey a humorous or political message.

Now, we have brainless taggers spray painting their stylized initials on peoples property. Who cares what numb skull did it, their initials are meaningless to us. It just causes regular citizens the trouble and expense of removing the crap.

 

[Ozymandias]

Fixed that for you.

I was going to do the same. Though not as creatively.

Everyone cites this or that example about why everything is going down the drain. The trick is not to accidentally cite peeves.

My take, not entirely peeve-free:
I would say, societies are "deteriorating" in the sense that the old dies, like always. A real problem, I think, is hypocrisy about what we stand for as a society: opportunity, freedom, fairness and honesty being taught to kids - nominally, at least -, and then lack of social mobility, surveillance (i.e. suppression of any deviation from the mainstream, be it kids in Britain being barred for life from entering the US because of a Facebook comment, or so-called Christian churches boycotting people who advocate non-hate), cheating and lying in "real life". And the cheaters and liars (e.g. Gingrich) somehow are still establishment figures.
How to solve that, I don't know. Reduce pay for CEOs, maybe? Ban lobby contributions above a certain level? And NOT MARKET STUFF TO KIDS so that they don't feel any lack of stuff is an unbearable imposition?

 

[KariRandall]

I thought this was about US society / culture deteriorating, not how the culture of Pacific Palisades has changed.

It is indeed true that only a privileged few can afford to own some of the most desirable land in the country. That is the nature of capitalism and scarcity -- that same dynamic existed 60 years ago. What changed was the desirability of the Santa Monica/Pacific Palisades area. Again, your grievance has nothing to do with cultural deterioration.

Fine. This house stands near Sun City, Arizona and was originally built in the 1940s for returning WWII vets and then remodeled in the 1990s. My dad says it sold new for $7,750 new, it recently sold for $140,000, the lot is 80 X 160, the house is about 1600 square feet.

The mortgage on $140,000 would be about $1,400 a month. Based upon a suggested housing cost of 25% of ones income the homeowner should take home about $67,000 a year or an upper middle class income (for Arizona), as opposed to a middle class income. Again, in Arizona the standard of living or cultural deterioration like Pacific Palisades is felt across the United States. Case closed. Anything else?

 

[Wafflecakes]

humans climb out trees ans stuff

but da cost fa um ans now only home they a got just a suck their thumb

defo da cream of civlizations/cultures/woteva lands wanna sell fa it missin a bit up top

theys can a park da car 10000 years ago easy
but stills folk goin
noooooo back up bit noooo bit right nooo bit left

cream is stoooopid morons a much of many a thang of much sick of fuckheads tooos a be across planet

here bonus

thankyou

I don't even.

I suppose I will focus on first line. Yes we evolve over time....but those changes happen over many thousands, and millions, of years. For all practical purposes human nature doesn't change.

 

[Ozymandias]

Again, in Arizona the standard of living or cultural deterioration like Pacific Palisades is felt across the United States. Case closed. Anything else?

How are housing prices a matter of cultural deterioration?

Isn't Sun City one of those places where many old people move? (Got that from a movie, correct me if I'm wrong.) Surely that would drive up prices.

Another factor behind this is of course the rise in real wages, or lack thereof. I could try and find the link, but there've been loads of articles about how the real wages of American middle class workers haven't risen very much since, oh, the late 70s? CEO pay, on the other hand...
Income inequality may not be a cause, but I am sure is an indicator of how things are going in a society/"culture".