What is causing the downfall of our country?

[NyleRN]

Most certainly a contributing factor would be turkey bacon......which is not bacon at all

 

[actaeon277]

Fallacies About Hillary Clinton:  Setting the Record Straight (Part 1)


There are people that believe Hillary was $$$ broke.
And that she doesn't lie.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

When punctuation counts. Makes me lol.

Probably should pay more attention when posting from my phone but it's funny how it reads .

Gotta watch out for those ass men , grown or not . Although considering what happened in Orlando maybe the ass men aren't so tough after all .

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

What's causing this countries downfall ?

I'll let my Dr . explain it https://youtu.be/McUac2A_8Fw

 

[24Carat]

3 main facets of the same shiny gem-like turd:

people who won't take responsibility for their own actions
people with no desire to make their lives better by their own actions--hence the welfare state mentality
people who fear no repercussions for their unlawful actions against others

A lot of these people are the same in all 3 cases, and none of them do much to build up society rather than tear it down.

Ding, Ding, Ding ! We have a winner.

The OP and this whole thread are an invaluable study.

Gotta throw in an: "In other words" right here.

There is a taught, learned and reinforced adversity to two classical and invaluable tenets. Precepts that without which have clearly set the downhill slide of our society, no, our whole world.

Adversity to, and the denial of, Personal Responsibility and Self Determination, are the very bedrock of this whole discussion.

 

[BStarkey 46947]

Perpetuating CAS "Candy-A## Syndrome"

 

[IndyDave1776]

It seems that we have covered the basic reasons I recall from Roman History. What I took away from that class was that Rome's decline was the product of a combination of hubris, complacency, the expense of maintaining an empire of which a large part did not want to be part of the empire, running out of Italians in sufficient numbers for the army, requiring the enlistment of provincials of questionable loyalty and motivation, and after a time of abundance people going so soft that they were unable to get out of the wagon and push--all greatly compounded by the moral decline that had left them unable to even care about doing what needed done.

Socialism drove a knife into Rome's heart the same way it is here and now. The handouts start, and the productive people start to realize that they can't get ahead, and absent an external motivation, like moral standards not based on their own gratification, quit trying either through lack of motivation or through simply giving up on gaining by struggling. As it is today, in order to be truly productive, you need not only to be highly capable in your own profession, but also in multiple specialties of law, and have to navigate numerous barriers to entry and barriers beyond that.

 

[searpinski]

Causing the Downfall
-A complete lack of personal accountability
-No respect for given for ourselves, others or the planet

Not Causing the Downfall
-Lack of religion

 

[2in1evtime]

Greed, Political corruption, People with no values , The welfare state, Big business corruption, And lazy people that won't do there part and elect good politicians

 

[jamil]

Causing the Downfall
-A complete lack of personal accountability
-No respect for given for ourselves, others or the planet

Not Causing the Downfall
-Lack of religion

While I completely agree with that--it's not necessary to be religious to have virtue--I'll say this. A person who is trying to earn his way to heaven through good deeds isn't a threat to society. And I'm not saying that is THE Christian way to heaven, but many Christians do believe that. If outside of religious motivation some people can't be virtuous, let them be as religious as they want.

Another point, the American Left, in trying to divest Christianity from the country, have done a grave disservice to the collective virtue of society. I'm glad I can shop at Meier on Sunday's now. I'm glad the blue laws are mostly gone. But trying to shame America away from Christianity isn't working out so well. But then, the people doing it would probably think America isn't declining, that it's "progressing".

 

[Alpo]

Nov 22, 1963
Jan 30, 1968
Apr 4, 1968
May 4, 1970
Jun 17, 1972
Aug 9, 1974

That's only the top of my chart through 1975. It goes a lot deeper...and, of course, many events transpired afterwards.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Causing the Downfall
-A complete lack of personal accountability
-No respect for given for ourselves, others or the planet

Not Causing the Downfall
-Lack of religion

That last part...so far as I am concerned, it isn't the lack of religious orthodoxy but rather that most people are not inclined to to right of their own volition. Human nature will devolve to 'it's only illegal if you get caught'. Believing in the positive or negative consequences of one's actions under conditions of not being able to hide from the truth is strongly reinforced by belief in a deity of some form.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Blind partisan allegiance.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Nov 22, 1963
Jan 30, 1968
Apr 4, 1968
May 4, 1970
Jun 17, 1972
Aug 9, 1974

That's only the top of my chart through 1975. It goes a lot deeper...and, of course, many events transpired afterwards.

November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated
Tet Offensive begins on Jan 30, 1968
May 4, 1970—members of the Ohio National Guard fired on unarmed student protesters at Kent State
June 17, 1972, five men are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate
President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon leave the White House for Yorba Linda, California following his resignation on August 9, 1974

I would argue that these are symptom rather than causes.

 

[Sling10mm]

Probably a combination of many comments above (I didn't read them all), but I would say that a large enough part of our population has forgotten who we are, and where we came from, or never learned in the first place. Rather than a free people who understand that the power to govern lies with us, and does not emanate from government, too many believe that power originates with government, and so it must solve all of our problems, and yes, give us "free stuff". The beast that is our government craves more power (it has since the beginning), and over time the population has slowly capitulated in the hopes that "they" will keep us safe, provide healthcare, shelter, and financial stability.

I always thought that our Constitution was written to enumerate the protections against this sort of behavior from our government, but guess it wasn't enough.

JMHO..... YMMV.... yada, yada, yada

 

[Alpo]

November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated
Tet Offensive begins on Jan 30, 1968
May 4, 1970—members of the Ohio National Guard fired on unarmed student protesters at Kent State
June 17, 1972, five men are arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate
President Richard Nixon and First Lady Pat Nixon leave the White House for Yorba Linda, California following his resignation on August 9, 1974

I would argue that these are symptom rather than causes.

I read somewhere recently that the day Americans lost trust in their government was Nov 22, 1963. Prior to that date, citizens were much more worried about the Rooskies than they were about Washington and the military/industrial buildup.

I suppose it could be argued that things started to to hell in a handbasket with the Bay of Pigs. I wasn't a teenager before that, so I wasn't really paying attention. But, clearly, the 60's is where the turd hit the propellor.

Now, a lot of those observations above about the loss of spirituality, nuclear family were still present then. So, if the dates represent symptoms, the cause was in the 60's decade. That was also the decade that serious drugs moved out of the ghetto and into the burbs.

 

[Drail]

The answer to the question is simple greed.

 

[IndyDave1776]

I read somewhere recently that the day Americans lost trust in their government was Nov 22, 1963. Prior to that date, citizens were much more worried about the Rooskies than they were about Washington and the military/industrial buildup.

I suppose it could be argued that things started to to hell in a handbasket with the Bay of Pigs. I wasn't a teenager before that, so I wasn't really paying attention. But, clearly, the 60's is where the turd hit the propellor.

Now, a lot of those observations above about the loss of spirituality, nuclear family were still present then. So, if the dates represent symptoms, the cause was in the 60's decade. That was also the decade that serious drugs moved out of the ghetto and into the burbs.

I would not have been able to associate the JFK assassination as being pivotal in this way, but it is also true that to understand the dog's eye view of history requires living through it. I was running up on my first birthday when Nixon resigned, so, needless to say, I don't remember any of these events from personal experience.

I agree that there is no question that the 60's is the time when the bad seed in our culture germinated to bear bitter fruit.

 

[searpinski]

That last part...so far as I am concerned, it isn't the lack of religious orthodoxy but rather that most people are not inclined to to right of their own volition. Human nature will devolve to 'it's only illegal if you get caught'. Believing in the positive or negative consequences of one's actions under conditions of not being able to hide from the truth is strongly reinforced by belief in a deity of some form.

Excellent point.

While I completely agree with that--it's not necessary to be religious to have virtue--I'll say this. A person who is trying to earn his way to heaven through good deeds isn't a threat to society. And I'm not saying that is THE Christian way to heaven, but many Christians do believe that. If outside of religious motivation some people can't be virtuous, let them be as religious as they want.

Another point, the American Left, in trying to divest Christianity from the country, have done a grave disservice to the collective virtue of society. I'm glad I can shop at Meier on Sunday's now. I'm glad the blue laws are mostly gone. But trying to shame America away from Christianity isn't working out so well. But then, the people doing it would probably think America isn't declining, that it's "progressing".

Another excellent point. I don't see Christians as a threat. I also think it's wrong to attempt to shame people away from a particular religion (or lack of). I'm 100% not religious but always try to do the right thing by myself and my family. Most (if not all) of my friends are religious in some manner, but it just isn't for me. I strive for mutual respect.

 

[actaeon277]

I'd like to sling some blame at the media. Not all. But some.
Case in point, the full court press against guns right now.
Full of inaccuracies.