What is the main thing that is causing the moral decay in our society?

We’re in the process of attaining marriage equality all over the world. Slavery is all but nonexistent in the first world. We are within short years of decriminalizing recreational marijuana, keeping millions of taxpayers out of jail. People are standing up against pedophile priests instead of making excuses for them. People are questioning religion.

If you ask me, the world is considerably more moral than it has ever been.

Perhaps you could give more specific examples of the moral decline you’re concerned about, and how the negative impacts on society you see outweigh the positive trends that are occurring.

I’m with Seek. The good ol’ days that old people that watch Fox news long for don’t seem all that good to me.

I guess if you want a barefoot and pregnant wife that has dinner ready at 5pm you could miss the 50’s. But if you aren’t a wealthy white Cristian male that owns land you are probably better off now.

I don’t agree with your basic premise.

However, I do believe that the necessity for both parents to work outside the home is not a good thing.

I also believe overpopulation contributes to the perception that things are worse than before.

There is no main reason—there are many reasons. One of them is, I believe, is a dearth of positive role models in government, in the news media, in movies and TV, in religion, and in parenting.

Of course there are many admirable men and women in all these areas. But at a time and in a culture where Miley Cyrus appears to have replaced Justin Bieber as the moment’s worst role model, and whose antics are being followed more closely than events in Syria, I have to think there are too few strong, moral leaders, and too many followers of the wrong kind.

Greed.

It is personal freedom and respect for the individual. People are allowed to pursue their dreams however crazy or unorthodox they may appear to others. I don’t look on it as moral decay unless it hurts others in some way.

I bet if you go back centuries people were thinking there was moral decay in society.

People were also questioning religion for centuries (which is part of how new religions started throughout history).

“Moral decay”? Compared to what? The Salem witch hunts? Slavery? Jim Crow laws and segregation? Agent Orange? The internment of Japanese Americans? The Kent State massacre? The annihilation of Native Americans?

Moral Decay? That’s a load of crap. Sexual promiscuity has gone way down. Alcohol use compared to 30 years ago is way off. Overall drug use has declined. Prostitution is not nearly the problem it once was.

And I see kids these days as a lot more caring for each other than they were when I was in school.

What moral decay?

Religion. Religion sets false ideas about morality, based on the specific religious mob in charge.

No religion = no moral decay.

I was going to answer in the tone of What moral decay?, but I see now that others have stolen my words and arguments, those bastards.

@CWOTUS Theft of intellectual communications: yet another example of the moral decay rampant in society these days.

Every generation thinks that the present one is more morally corrupt than the previous ones. Always has been, always will be. Change is scary.

What @Seek_Kolinahr said. Also, this is related, and has to do with violence.

Thanks, @rojo. I see that I have also contributed to the degradation of the quality of communication via mass media by calling those bastards “bastards”. I probably should have called them illegitimati or some such term that may not be considered so vulgar.

Ah, fuck it. Bastards.

There is a quote somewhere of Socrates complaining about moral decay.

@CWOTUS Aren’t the Illegitimati the ones who actually run the world anyway?

Or am I confused

The book to read is “Dawn to Decadence” by Jaques Barzun.

It isn’t moral decay you are sensing. It is merely decay. Barzun says civilizations have about a 500 year run and then they sort of “reboot”. Our version of Western Civilization had it’s last “reboot” with the Reformation.
About due for another.

The only moral problem I see is declining use of reason as a basis for making decisions.

This sounds like “When did you stop beating your wife?”

Very loaded question, as just about everyone else has pointed out.
What you see as moral decay I see as a refusal to brush crap under the rug and pretend it doesn’t exist.
The TV show Mad Men is like a train wreck you can’t take your eyes off because it contrasts the ideal veneer with the rotten foundation of American society of the time.
Exposing problems is the least of our problems. To the contrary, it is the first step to a solution.
If you’re offended by twerking, you should see some of the raunchy porn that was written in Victorian England.

@drhat77 wrote,“If you’re offended by twerking,”

This is a totally different question and probably needs to be asked separately, but has anyone addressed the issue of the health effects of twerking?

Is it good for the back? Does it put stress on the lower spine, the hips, or the knees?

Runaway greed as well as the agents of encouragement for it. Apathy and the idea things should automatically happen with little to no struggling to make it happen. People are fuckin lazy now especially the young. Too many people wanting to cheat to justify the end goal. We’ve become a narcissistic and spoiled society. Yes it is about time for a reboot, whatever that involves but most of us are not going to like it much.

“The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth; and prevented others from improving their minds in useful knowledge. Parents take care to feed their children with wholesome diet; and yet how unconcerned about the provision for the mind, whether they are furnished with salutary food, or with trash, chaff, or poison?”
– Reverend Enos Hitchcock, Memoirs of the Bloomsgrove Family, 1790

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.04/war.html

Because of millions of reasons but my main reason is because there is no more Star Trek on TV.
Just Kidding….
I agree with @Seek_Kolinahr, the world is getting better. No which hunts for non believers, torture chambers are closed, no more child labor – okay perhaps in the third world countries – no more public executions, no more Duke’s raping the locals, the church is not the rulers anymore. But yes I have noticed there are a few notable decays. The American Dream seems to be slipping away. African Unity and self sustainability is down the drain.

The only thing I don’t like about our society today is the “I have the RIGHT to be rude and violent and obnoxious!” The societal pressure to have some couth and manners has gone out the window. Other than that I think we’re doing OK.

It’s a focus on self instead of others, it’s a me, me, me society.

And I also feel the lack of belief in a higher power has led to a immoral society with a lack of a moral compass.

There’s no respect for your elders, or hard work, or for authority in general.

I have to respectfully disagree with the statement ”…he lack of belief in a higher power has led to a immoral society with a lack of a moral compass.” Most of us here are atheist or agnostic. I don’t think any of us have a lack of a moral compass.

It could be argued that many of those who believe in a higher power use that belief to justify some really nasty, intolerant, and judgmental behavior.

Other than that I agree with everything else you said @KNOWITALL.

Using the word “many” when trying to illustrate a point only falls on the ears of those who already agree with you

@Dutchess_III Based on many conversations over the last year, I’ll say that a lot of self-proclaimed ‘nice atheists and agnostics, etc…’ don’t seem to treat people well here or in real life. Sorry, that’s my experience. You can say the same about all religions though, for sure.

I think you’re nice – lol, and I’ve known a lot of hippies that were great people, but they were genuinely kind and wouldn’t cause harm or even an argument if they could prevent it.

Self importance, self righteousness, and mass media.

You can watch television and surf the Internet all day long and hear about what a toilet the world has become or you can walk out your front door and go take a look for yourself.

I think you’ll find that the world isn’t as horrible as a 24-hour news cycle would lead you to believe.

Credit, caffeine, and cake.

I think Michele Obama has It right, drink less pop and more water, is the easiest way to improve your life, free water instead of expensive pop/ coffee.

Lack of education.

I do think that people have become more hedonistic and selfish, as can be evidenced by the evening news. I still feel that these changes are necessary though, and I’m glad that rigid gender conformism seems like it’s becoming less popular. I’ve always felt that things will get worse before they get better when longterm cultural paradigms come to an end, but the progression is necessary in my opinion.

I agree with those who are saying every generation sees their own time as depraved and looks back at older times through rose-colored glasses. That said, there are things that are different about the current age (new technology, the rise in auto-immune diseases, and what @YARNLADY said about increased population) that must affect people’s attitudes and moral behavior. However, anyone who thinks that humans were somehow “more nice” in times past just needs to pick up a history book to see that’s not true. Humans have been “depraved” for a long time. Genocide, racism, sexism, torture, rape…it goes back thousands of years. Just because people “twerk” now and say “fuck” more often doesn’t mean that human nature has changed.

@DominicX I love you man. I’ve been watching you since you were 16 years old! You’ve always been wise beyond your years.
Just a point: even “autoimmune” diseases are simply recognized now, not a new result of our society.

Your question centered around media? I agree, media is rife with ‘crap’. Women are portrayed a certain way that women then strive to be. Likewise with men. Everything is about owning this or owning that. Movies show love as sex, porn makes real women seem less than.Violence is everywhere and acceptable (more acceptable than looking at sex). I think they decay we are experiencing currently is facilitated by the rubbish media we (could) allow ourselves to buy into. Sadly kids do not have the choice a lot of the time, nor the power to discern what is good or bad media.

The adoration and glamorizing of drug use.

Moral decay for parts, moral improvement for others. Overall, in our societies’ morals are improving. We tend to overlook the good stuff.

Examples for moral decay: corporations controlling the lawmaking of elected representatives, greed of investment bankers

Examples for moral improvement: abolition of eugenics laws, voting rights for all citizens, animal rights, abolition of death penalty in large parts of the civilized world

To play off of Matt, moral decay for some means moral improvement for others. Equality and same sex marriage are good examples.

I’m sure that when the blacks were given the right to vote many assumed that was the end of our country. Today there are many who see see same sex marriage as and example of the “moral decay” of the country.

Even though it may seem that certain things are declining, I do feel society is becoming more “self-aware” we are all in position to change the world or be changed by the world….......

@Dutchess_III – There are examples of controversial issues, but there are also examples for which we have a large consensus.

The people in it.