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Winning Isn't Everything, It's The Only Thing" America's New Mentality

rhinefire

rhinefire

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I have been around for 65 years and it seems to me in our society competition has become a monster. From little children's organized sport activities to our elected officials everything had gotten ugly. Winning has become the only thing. Fathers are brawling over childrens sports. High school athletes now concentrate on money/scholarships as there is talk of paying athletes at college level sports. College sports are now clawing at each other for dollars from tv revenue. Government at all levels is getting dirtier by the day and it has been filty since day one. The feds now barely even speak to each other. The all mighty dollar has replaced The Almighty.
We have had a shaded past history but it appears we have not learned much from it and we don't even so much as teach it oin our schools. Everything is as much gratification ASAP and "get out of my way". Women are street fighting like men used to Why? What has changed them? I recall two girl fights in highscoll in four years time. Also, look at the madness at these stores that open letting herds of humanity in to buy a Golden Fleece game box, with people runnig over and stepping on people to get this stupid toy. We never did that before what has changed us? Bottom line I see now why so many nations dislike us and frankly, I don't like us either!
 
IMO it is because of the availability of information about others who do the same things as your inner impulses make you want to do so things that used to seem abnormal become normal to you if you are so inclined to do bad things. In other words, the access to the details of so many defective people's lives has created a new normal.
 
Unfortunately, it is mostly the bad stuff that makes the news and quality of life in the U.S. varies greatly based on your local conditions. Thankfully, where I live (rural south/central Texas) folks still wave when they drive by (or see you drive by) and help each other out without need to ask for payment. When one has a personal "disaster", whether it be a fire, strom damage or a medical emergency, the neighbors pitch in and hold a fundraiser to help them out. Crime still occurs but at a much lower rate than either the state or national average. That greed and me first attitude seems to be the exception rather than the rule around here.

Uhland, Texas (TX 78640) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news

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That hasn't been my experience, in my experience competition was ruined in public schools by this "Everyone is a winner... everyone gets a trophy" nonsense attitude.

People clamoring for scholarships and endorsements... that's just money.

I also do not see women street fighting, on the whole violent crimes like assault/battery are on the decline.
 
I agree with ttwt that it's not as bad as the media would have us believe. Instant gratification does pose problems, and I think has made us more shallow as a nation, but in other ways we are so much better off than before, like equal rights. Plus, American politics have been scandal ridden since the beginning.
 
rhinefire said:
I have been around for 65 years and it seems to me in our society competition has become a monster. From little children's organized sport activities to our elected officials everything had gotten ugly. Winning has become the only thing. Fathers are brawling over childrens sports. High school athletes now concentrate on money/scholarships as there is talk of paying athletes at college level sports. College sports are now clawing at each other for dollars from tv revenue. Government at all levels is getting dirtier by the day and it has been filty since day one. The feds now barely even speak to each other. The all mighty dollar has replaced The Almighty.
We have had a shaded past history but it appears we have not learned much from it and we don't even so much as teach it oin our schools. Everything is as much gratification ASAP and "get out of my way". Women are street fighting like men used to Why? What has changed them? I recall two girl fights in highscoll in four years time. Also, look at the madness at these stores that open letting herds of humanity in to buy a Golden Fleece game box, with people runnig over and stepping on people to get this stupid toy. We never did that before what has changed us? Bottom line I see now why so many nations dislike us and frankly, I don't like us either!
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If you think its bad today ....imagine being a slave ....or living under Jim Crow laws!
Dude America's very creation was founded on corruption!
You guys have white washed ..."these founding fathers"...so much over the decades that today...most people on the right walk around and talk about that era as if it was all moral and pristine ...and that's very far from the truth!! These founding fathers most talk about so proudly ....believe anything...pedophiles...wife beaters .....child molesters ....no internet, no real media ...who the hell was around to tell the real story!!

Pick any era '''all the way back to the founding fathers and I guarantee The politicians back then were everything todays politicians are with much much more cover due to the lack of technology coulpled with an uneducated populous!!
 
JC Callender said:
I agree with ttwt that it's not as bad as the media would have us believe. Instant gratification does pose problems, and I think has made us more shallow as a nation, but in other ways we are so much better off than before, like equal rights. Plus, American politics have been scandal ridden since the beginning.
Click to expand...

I agree too, but I still do think that corruption is far more common today as compared to when the government was smaller. Let's face it, the government is a huge intrusive monstrosity now. That's just my opinion though. :)
 
rhinefire said:
I have been around for 65 years and it seems to me in our society competition has become a monster. From little children's organized sport activities to our elected officials everything had gotten ugly. Winning has become the only thing. Fathers are brawling over childrens sports. High school athletes now concentrate on money/scholarships as there is talk of paying athletes at college level sports. College sports are now clawing at each other for dollars from tv revenue. Government at all levels is getting dirtier by the day and it has been filty since day one. The feds now barely even speak to each other. The all mighty dollar has replaced The Almighty.
We have had a shaded past history but it appears we have not learned much from it and we don't even so much as teach it oin our schools. Everything is as much gratification ASAP and "get out of my way". Women are street fighting like men used to Why? What has changed them? I recall two girl fights in highscoll in four years time. Also, look at the madness at these stores that open letting herds of humanity in to buy a Golden Fleece game box, with people runnig over and stepping on people to get this stupid toy. We never did that before what has changed us? Bottom line I see now why so many nations dislike us and frankly, I don't like us either!
Click to expand...

I agree with a lot of your post, but there are a lot of good people in our country still. You just don't hear about them as often.
 
This is the danger of generalizing. Sure, our respected OP is 65, just a youngster compared to, say, me.

The percentage of bad behavior hasn't changed much. The visibility has. We get far too much selected information. There are 100 murders a day in America and Jodi Arias and Zimmerman own all the news. Why? I don't have a clue.

Used to be you could beat your woman and she'd keep her mouth shut. Now the bitch is liable to call the cops! So it starts to look like more guys are beating their women but really, it's probably less.

Other countries hate us because we insist on intervening in every single obscure place i the world. That's our slimy politicians, not us.
 
specklebang said:
This is the danger of generalizing. Sure, our respected OP is 65, just a youngster compared to, say, me.

The percentage of bad behavior hasn't changed much. The visibility has. We get far too much selected information. There are 100 murders a day in America and Jodi Arias and Zimmerman own all the news. Why? I don't have a clue.

Used to be you could beat your woman and she'd keep her mouth shut. Now the bitch is liable to call the cops! So it starts to look like more guys are beating their women but really, it's probably less.

Other countries hate us because we insist on intervening in every single obscure place i the world. That's our slimy politicians, not us.
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But they ASK us to, or even BEG us to, and then they hate us later. :lol:
 
Who asks us to? Their politicians that get bags of cash or their people that we eradicate as collateral damage?

I doubt that we were asked into Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya. Vietnam maybe but who did the asking?

ChrisL said:
But they ASK us to, or even BEG us to, and then they hate us later. :lol:
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specklebang said:
Who asks us to? Their politicians that get bags of cash or their people that we eradicate as collateral damage?

I doubt that we were asked into Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya. Vietnam maybe but who did the asking?
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Libya? Those rebels were begging for our help. Same thing in Syria now. We aid rebels and coups to usually take out their "politicians", if that's what you want to even call them.
 
rhinefire said:
I have been around for 65 years and it seems to me in our society competition has become a monster. From little children's organized sport activities to our elected officials everything had gotten ugly. Winning has become the only thing. Fathers are brawling over childrens sports. High school athletes now concentrate on money/scholarships as there is talk of paying athletes at college level sports. College sports are now clawing at each other for dollars from tv revenue. Government at all levels is getting dirtier by the day and it has been filty since day one. The feds now barely even speak to each other. The all mighty dollar has replaced The Almighty.
We have had a shaded past history but it appears we have not learned much from it and we don't even so much as teach it oin our schools. Everything is as much gratification ASAP and "get out of my way". Women are street fighting like men used to Why? What has changed them? I recall two girl fights in highscoll in four years time. Also, look at the madness at these stores that open letting herds of humanity in to buy a Golden Fleece game box, with people runnig over and stepping on people to get this stupid toy. We never did that before what has changed us? Bottom line I see now why so many nations dislike us and frankly, I don't like us either!
Click to expand...

Wait wait wait...I thought America was being pussified and becoming soft and our children are taught that everyone is a winner even when they lose.
 
rhinefire said:
I have been around for 65 years and it seems to me in our society competition has become a monster. From little children's organized sport activities to our elected officials everything had gotten ugly. Winning has become the only thing. Fathers are brawling over childrens sports. High school athletes now concentrate on money/scholarships as there is talk of paying athletes at college level sports. College sports are now clawing at each other for dollars from tv revenue. Government at all levels is getting dirtier by the day and it has been filty since day one...
Click to expand...

I focused on this part of your post because wile what you are talking about is the public face of opportunism today, I see a different thing happening with our kids generally. There is no competitive spirit fostered in our youth. Today everyone is a "winner," everyone gets a trophy, everyone can go out and with no effort become president of a company. You don't even have to study and learn anything, the world is your oyster.

So we have kids rated as having the highest level of confidence out of all industrialized nations, but rate no higher than 25th in education.
 
Among the rebels are the super-rebels who will become that country's new politicians. It's smart to bet on the winning side. Sure, it's sickening, but isn't that how the game is played??



ChrisL said:
Libya? Those rebels were begging for our help. Same thing in Syria now. We aid rebels and coups to usually take out their "politicians", if that's what you want to even call them.
Click to expand...
 
specklebang said:
Among the rebels are the super-rebels who will become that country's new politicians. It's smart to bet on the winning side. Sure, it's sickening, but isn't that how the game is played??
Click to expand...

Super rebels? :lol:

Okay, well which ones are the super rebels? There are certainly a lot of different groups that make up this movement. Do we even know who is who?
 
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