The Downfall of a Good and Just Society

 

 

On the neighborhood-based social media app "NextDoor" this morning, a woman posted her shock and dismay at seeing a young man stealing snacks and drinks from a local grocery store, in full view of shoppers and even the General Manger of the store.  The GM told him to "put down those items and leave the store", to which he replied, "What are you going to do about it?"  He left with his stolen goods and disappeared long before the police arrived.

American news is bursting these days with stories of people behaving horribly:  From brazen, open-air murders to car jackings, looting, fist-fights (with onlookers shouting encouragement), theft, "checking cars" (where groups of hoodlums canvass a neighborhood to see which cars are unlocked), drivers whose sound systems boom so loudly they rattle the windows of buildings 2 blocks away, and so much more...  

It seems as if we are watching the slow-motion Downfall of a Good and Just society.

There have always bad people doing bad things, of course, and there always will be.  A "Good and Just Society", however, can be approximated as one in which the vast majority of members have a shared sense of Values, a common Respect for authority, other members, and themselves.  What would it look like if those Values and that Respect continued to erode across wider swaths of a Society?

Here's a Thought Experiment:

Imagine you go to see a movie at the theatre... It's a popular movie, the house is packed, and you're excited as the film begins.  But to your dismay and frustration, you hear people crackling their snack packaging here and there, quite a few people around you are talking loudly, and some are even playing media, out loud, on their devices.  None of them, apparently, have any concern about disturbing those around them who are trying to watch the movie.

Enjoying the film would be nearly impossible; if most of the people in that theatre have no Respect (for authority, others, or even themselves), your only recourse is to get up and leave, demand a refund from the management, and go home.  

We can debate why anyone would act that way, and we could even make the argument that bad behavior has always been there and that it is Technology making us all aware of it; these are good conversations to have.  Ultimately, many of us will ask the (mostly rhetorical) question of what can be done about it...

But the results of what seems like a trend toward horrible behavior are not difficult to foresee:  Roaming gangs of opportunists in cities and towns across America, consuming anything they choose, heaping brutality on anyone who gets in their way, and establishing their "territories" through violence and fear.

What's to stop them?