[snip]
: Given the social upheavals of the sixties which emphasised the inherent right of individuals to interpret what constitutes right and wrong, why would anyone expect a different outcome?Why do you assume that people would turn to crime if they were encouraged, as the thinking in the 60's put it, to critically think for themselves?
:Weren't we exhorted to 'do your own thing'? Didn't the social icons of that era encourage us to 'tune in drop out turn on'?
Were people encouraged to commit crimes? They may have been encouraged to flaunt laws based solely on puritannical moralizing, such as drugs and other endeavors where the only person who may be hurt is themselves (so the government should stay the hell out of their lives), but really, how many people were encouraged to commit crimes against others?
'Ain't nobody's business if you do' has become a creed for many.
What's wrong with that if nobody is being affected but yourself and maybe another consensual adult? "Ain't nobody's business!" is right.
:There is much to say, I'm afraid, for common mores based on shared ethical beliefs.
True, but we believe that adults should have the freedom to do what they want to themselves, no matter how knuckleheaded, as long as they are not harming others. I'm a strong believer in freedom.
: Blaming the increased prison population of capitalism is what I expect to see here, as I expect to see some here blame changing weather patterns on capitalism. While capitalism has been an integral part of this country's historical experience such high prison populations have not been. The social goals of the sixties radicals are bearing their fruits.
: Feminism; promised greater freedom to women but gave us single-mom families. Single moms are notorious for being wholly unable to control their male offspring. This has led to the creation of gangs and the rejection of scholastic acheivement, along with the consequences.
: The sixties drug-culture; enticed us with greater personal freedom. It gave us instead a cocaine epidemic and the creation of drug cartels.
: Blaming capitalism is convenient, but the burgeoning prison population is a relatively new phenomena. I don't see the correlation that you make.
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That's you in a nutshell, Frenchy.
Maybe there are more people in prison now than ever because of this country's insane war on drugs.
I could go on, but my boss just told me I need to pee in a cup and give it to him, or else. Ain't it grand?
