Legislating decent behaviour - wtf?
Discussion
Quite a few recent threads have picked up on elements of this... violent crime doubling under nu labour etc etc
No apologies for generalisations; kind of hard to avoid.
Seems to me that societal behaviour used to be informed by internal pressures to conform; morality, peer group pressures to 'do the right thing' etc etc...
Now personal morality is often seen as restrictive and unfashionable (at best).
Over the last 15/20 years Govts have launched a pretty sustained assault on institutions that generated such concepts (church, family unit etc) under various 'progressive' programmes.
Now it seems that we try and inform correct behaviour through external pressures; specifically legislation.
Funnily enough, I don't feel any safer for this.
So, question for fellow PHers; Have we lost more through this than we've gained?
edited to make the bold text work properly, d'oh
>> Edited by ed22 on Thursday 21st July 12:37
No apologies for generalisations; kind of hard to avoid.
Seems to me that societal behaviour used to be informed by internal pressures to conform; morality, peer group pressures to 'do the right thing' etc etc...
Now personal morality is often seen as restrictive and unfashionable (at best).
Over the last 15/20 years Govts have launched a pretty sustained assault on institutions that generated such concepts (church, family unit etc) under various 'progressive' programmes.
Now it seems that we try and inform correct behaviour through external pressures; specifically legislation.
Funnily enough, I don't feel any safer for this.
So, question for fellow PHers; Have we lost more through this than we've gained?
edited to make the bold text work properly, d'oh
>> Edited by ed22 on Thursday 21st July 12:37
Difficult to measure.
The gains in personal freedoms to be and act how you want to, without excessive moralisation from society to "conform" have led to an expansion of visible self-expression, and almost-certainly a greater sense of "self" for those concerned.
But...the fragmentation of "neighbourhoods", of "society", has resulted in increased violence, decreased care for ones peers and neighbours, and general selfishness.
i would say, however, that a large amount of the increasing "me, me, me" culture is due to increased marketing and commercialisation, rather than the freedoms described, IMHO.
So...greater freedom to act and express yourself, combined with a trend towards selfishness in society...yep, that's a recipe for problems. But which do we curb? The self-expression or the commercialisation of society? Well, that's obvious, if you're sponsored by corporate UK, isn't it!
The gains in personal freedoms to be and act how you want to, without excessive moralisation from society to "conform" have led to an expansion of visible self-expression, and almost-certainly a greater sense of "self" for those concerned.
But...the fragmentation of "neighbourhoods", of "society", has resulted in increased violence, decreased care for ones peers and neighbours, and general selfishness.
i would say, however, that a large amount of the increasing "me, me, me" culture is due to increased marketing and commercialisation, rather than the freedoms described, IMHO.
So...greater freedom to act and express yourself, combined with a trend towards selfishness in society...yep, that's a recipe for problems. But which do we curb? The self-expression or the commercialisation of society? Well, that's obvious, if you're sponsored by corporate UK, isn't it!
There's nothing like brain washing your children in their early years to develop well rounded responsible citizens. Provided the brain washing is done by parents who have been brain washed themselves, by thier parents.
Having high standards of personal morality, having a high standard of care and understanding for others and the wider community needs to be taught, by example. Unfortunately if only half the people are taught, then as these children reach adolescence peer pressure means that the brain washing is only partly effective, and eventually you end up with a vast population that JUST don't GIVE a FCUK !!
Having high standards of personal morality, having a high standard of care and understanding for others and the wider community needs to be taught, by example. Unfortunately if only half the people are taught, then as these children reach adolescence peer pressure means that the brain washing is only partly effective, and eventually you end up with a vast population that JUST don't GIVE a FCUK !!
ed22 said:
So, question for fellow PHers; Have we lost more through this than we've gained?
If we think back to the 50's, the key thing that has changed is the attitude to girls who have children out of wedlock, back then it was a scandal-now it is the accepted route to a free home and cash.
On an individual level this may well be a good thing, who could stand to see girls be shunned or punished for getting pregnant without being married, but from the point of view of society as a whole it has been a disaster.
Societies always have some level of crime-it is the explosion in the number of children of mothers who are not in long term relationships (the children of whom are statistically far more likely to commit crimes) that has produced much of the rise in crime.
>> Edited by JagLover on Thursday 21st July 13:01
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