December 08, 2011 4:08 PM
There is something fundamentally wrong with this country, and it’s deeper than politics, but there may be a correlation. We have a culture run amok, with a percentage of folks that seem closer to barbarians than members of a civilized society.
The day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, some individuals acted like hooligans and starving animals. With a mob mentality, people fought over “stuff” with no concern for their fellow man. The “stuff” was not the necessities of life, but waffle irons, video games and other “stuff”. In West Virginia folks stepped over and around a collapsed man as if he was only a piece of trash.
During the Occupy Wall Street protests, we have witnessed open sex, rapes, public defecation and all sorts of antisocial behavior. And many of their demands involved “stuff”, generally wanting someone else’s “stuff,” not wanting to pay for their own “stuff”, or just more “stuff”.
Then we have a president campaigning on promises to take “stuff” from some Americans and give that “stuff” to other Americans that vote for him. He likes to chastise those who he perceives having too much “stuff”, but doesn’t mind giving the taxpayers’ ”stuff” to those who give him lots of “stuff” for his campaign coffers.
Another new phenomenon of the 21st century is the so called “flash mob”; young, social media connected types rushing into stores stealing “stuff”. Has stealing become socially acceptable in some circles?
It does appear there are people trying to feel better about themselves and their lives by illegally or immorally acquiring more “stuff”. A number of people do nothing to earn their “stuff”.
A review of history will see this scenario has played out before. A culture reaches a position of wealth and prosperity, followed by an erosion of the values that helped the country reach that pinnacle of success. People become lazy and dependent on society for their “stuff” and the society begins to crumble.
Add a government and a citizenry completely consumed by debt, a crumbling dollar, and it’s easy to visualize an uncertain future. The rubber will meet the road when there is a lot less “stuff” to go around. If there should be a shortage of essential “stuff”, is it a stretch to think that these semi-barbarians will become full fledged in their desire for enough “stuff” to exist?
Nancy Murdoch, Havelock, NC
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