Art, ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! That would have to be one of the BEST posts that I have read at Adland. Congratulations for telling the (unfortunate) TRUTH about society and where it is heading. 10/10 Gary

Hi Art; First things first -- one thing I enjoy about you is that we can have a healthy conversation. We can debate on some issues and agree on others... and neither feels persecuted and we're not trying to sell each other anything. LOL. I enjoy this. I do LOOK around me. (in caps, as you put it) I see the same things you do. I see kids with their pants hanging half way down their butts thinking it's "cool" to be stupid and/or criminal. I am a woman living in this same world that you speak of. I have been stalked both online and offline. I have had two of my homes and a vehicle broken into and robbed. I have have had a gun held to my head and I've walked out on an abusive marriage. And those were in the "good old days" before it got really ugly out there. lol. Trust me, I see the same garbage you do. You said; "I feel some of it must be my fault because I saw it happening and was powerless to do anything about it. " Firstly, neither you nor I (or anyone else) are "to blame" for choices other people make. When kids listen to crap cds or play video games where shooting people is sport -- did you raise those kids? I think not. Most of all, the reason I don't accept saying "I am powerless to do anything about it" is that I'm not dead yet. When I see something I don't like, I can do one of two things. -- I can ask myself "what can I do about this?" -- I can tell myself "I am powerless." One's sure a lot easier than the other. Fact is, no one is powerless unless they want to be. Margaret Mead said it best. "Never think that a small group of caring citizens cannot change for world for, indeed, that's all that ever has." We are only powerless when they shovel the dirt overtop. : ) Linda

Hi Art, The world IS a mess, but it's still not time to despair. While there are still people who recognise the problem, there are still people who can raise the alarm and do their part to change it. One of the things we (meaning you, I, and anyone who recognises the perilous path we're on) can do is to continuously raise the alarm. There still are those who will listen and maybe even raise the alarm themselves. There was a time when I faced a fairly large group of people who solidly disagreed with me on a point. I didn't back down, as I was certain I was right, but then neither did they. Afterwards, as I thought it all over, I wondered if perhaps my pride was getting in the way and if it really was possible for me to be right when so many others saw it differently. I called a wise friend of mine, who told me that it's not unusual for the masses to be wrong. He said that just because everybody says such and such doesn't make it true, and, in fact, that's one of the failings of democracy: the majority ISN'T always right. The end of this particular story is that a few short years later, I was proven completely and one hundred percent right in the position I took. The sad thing is, the majority got their way with devastating consequences to that organization. However, the story does not end there. There were some who heard me, thought about it, eventually realized the truth, and something new and good rose from the ashes. The world is in a big mess right now; in a mere generation it has become unsafe in most areas to let kids go out and play unsupervised, doors need to be locked even for a quick visit to the store, and it's no longer a good idea to go on holidays without having someone look after your home while your gone. However, history shows that past societies have also sunk to the same levels and worse, (the Romans enjoyed blood sport for entertainment, for example), but eventually enough people got the message and things changed. Right now, our society is still going downhill, but eventually, again as history proves, it is either going to do an about face or collapse, with something new and hopefully better rising from the ashes. You are right about the lack of responsibility placed upon the individual, but unless an individual stops behaving like a victim and takes that personal responsibility, she or he is doomed to personal defeat, and doomed to be an integral part of the overall problem. I don't believe that it's your fault or mine that our society is the way it is today, nor do I believe that we're powerless to do anything about it. I DO believe that we should continue to do all we can to take a stand; we do not truly fail until we stop trying. One of my favourite speeches of all time was one Winston Churchhill gave at a graduation ceremony. It was really short. He stared over the group of graduates and said, "Never give up." His gaze went around the room and then he said again, "Never give up." Once more, he paused, looked around the room, then said, "Never give up!" Then he left the stage. If England and its Prime Minister had given up during the late 30s and first half of the 40s, where would the world be now? God bless, Dave

Hi, Dave and Linda, You both make valid and encouraging points but I cannot ignore what I see with my own eyes. I see reports that there is a war against terror going on and I see that war promoting terrorism. I see reports that America is the land of the free yet I also see people in danger of being jailed for what they think or for what they say on the telephone or in an email. I see reports that British children are getting almost 100% passes in the examinatiuons that they take yet I see that the pass marks are so low, they can't actually fail! I see a British government which is about as unpopular as any government can be yet it can hold on to power because the very acts it is condemned for have wiped out any viable opposition. All over the world I see profligate spending on weapons while there are already enough weapons to arm every man woman and child but not enough food to make them strong enough to carry them. I see weapons of mass destruction being stock-piled by nations that would deny the same priviledge to every other nation. I see a 'human rights' lobby that would free every criminal because incarceration is seen as a cruel and unusual punishment. I see 27 charities in the UK to aid criminals and ex-convicts while there is only one to aid the victims. The list is endless. Yes, it is true that this is not an unusual cycle but it is different this time. This time our youth is being deliberately devalued by a crippled educational system and the denial of parents' rights to instill discipline. This time there is a huge mass media which is able to constantly feed corrupt and immoral attitudes to us 24 hours a day. Rap artists introduced swearing into entertainment in a mainstream way - and nothing was done. Result - swearing is no longer shocking, indeed, it is part of every day speech. The illegal drugs industry flourishes despite the technology available to the enforcement agencies to wipe it out at source. The will is lacking despite this popular concern among a large part of the population. Why? Because it is now considered fashionable and seen as a legitimate form of relaxation for the mob(?). Elections are carried out in such a way now that a recount is barely possible. The news media controls our thoughts by alarmist propaganda and by suppressing the facts in a mush of pre-digested and calculated missinformation. We are under a deluge of increasingly tacky and trite entertainment designed to kill any ambition that might try to root itself in the mind of anybody. We live in a world where the two most 'civilised' countries are actually riddled with 'no-go' areas where decent people go at their peril. Need I go on? As long as there are vested intersts in keeping the dumb animals coralled, those of us who can see will get little support. Dave, you have already seen it for yourself, but next time let's hope that, once again, something good comes from the ruins. For myself, I doubt it will be so.

Hi Arthur; You said; ============ Hi, Dave and Linda, You both make valid and encouraging points but I cannot ignore what I see with my own eyes. ============ But why is it that your eyes only see the negative? -- I see the same things you do. I also see; -- People like me and Dave (and others) coming to public forums after a 12 hour work day to stand up and speak about ethics online so we can teach others what we have learned. -- I see volunteer firemen running INTO burning buildings, while others are running out, so that they can save a life or a home. -- I see total strangers jumping into stormy waters to save a drowning person. -- I see men and women spending their spare hours caring for needy people or abandoned animals instead of plunking their fannies in front of the television. -- I see people like Cheri and Gary quietly donating chunks of their income to charitable causes because they care. They are no wealthier than anyone else. Just regular people doing what they can to make a difference. -- I see people that give their time and energy to charities and those that need help, whether it's campaigning or building websites gratis (as I often do). Helping for no other reason than because we can. Don't you see those, too? And if you do, why do you focus so much on the negative? Dave said; ============= ...unless an individual stops behaving like a victim and takes that personal responsibility, she or he is doomed to personal defeat, and doomed to be an integral part of the overall problem. ============= I agree completely. Quite honestly, I think that's exactly what you're doing. You make long lists of what's wrong with the world and then sum it up by saying you are powerless to change it. You are only powerless if you CHOOSE to be. If you start asking yourself what YOU can do, no matter how small, to make this world a better place, you might not have such a dim and dour opinion of it. Every day, we all have two choices. 1) Whine about what the world is, and be part of the problem... or 2) Ask what we can do to make it better and be part of the solution. : ) Linda