...bet that if you asked 100 strangers on the street who were alive, say, 40 years ago whether they thought the national culture had been degraded since then, around 80 would say yes. Maybe more. I bet you'd be one of them -- and I say that as a compliment.

Maybe I could answer this simply by asking you to identify which areas of our national culture have improved since then and how. While you're thinking about that, here is some food for thought. Are we more or less unified as a country? More or less dependent on government or self-sufficient? More or less homogenous? More or less patriotic? Are our arts/media better or worse? Are our families and communities stronger or weaker? Is our infrastructure and are our cities better or worse? Are our schools better or worse? How is our trust in institutions and "leaders" today versus back then? What sorts of freakshows are commonplace today that would have shocked you back then? Are race relations better or worse?

I don't think it's a close call, but to each his own.

[Post edited by Los Angeles Hoo at 04/13/2024 10:18PM]