Is American Society Getting Better or Worse - Essay Example

Sociology 13 May Is American Society Getting Better or Worse? Undeniably, America has been gradually deteriorating over the last few decades. This steady decline can be attributed to myriad reasons such as self-centeredness, lack of respect, ungodliness and the like. Unfortunately, in today’s world people waste a great deal of time contending that they have a right to other people’s earnings. This is illustrated by the rise in entitlements and the evidence that 48% of Americans no longer pay taxes. Although these people do not pay a dime and benefit from the fruits of others diligence, yet they still demand that taxes should be increased. This trend originated because of the decision of making America a Nanny or entitlement country. The state has brainwashed Americans into tolerating mediocrity and hold others guilty. Today it is believed that mediocrity is neither the person’s mistake nor the governments rather the culprit is someone who is doing well. Obama’s justification of why the economy is still in recession is a prime illustration of the aforementioned point. He has accused tsunami, Japanese nuclear plant explosions, natural catastrophes, the former president, tax reductions, tax increases, the indolent American public, the stock exchange, Wall Street, capitalist economies, burdens of war, Chinese currency and countless other factors. However, he never held himself accountable. He never admitted to the bare truths. In reality, it is their economic strategies and disruptive political activities, which have directly ensued in rising unemployment and economic disasters. Another integral reason for the degeneration of American society is the lack of true education based on morality and ethics. Human kind has not registered any considerable changes over the years. Humans have always been inclined towards humanity, generosity, and surrendered personal needs for the well-being of others. Undeniably, humans are more capable of feeling, caring and empathizing with others. However, like all creatures, humans need to be taught the difference between right and wrong. Nowadays, people have grown distant from religions, the purity and commitment of marriages has vanished, vows can be conveniently broken and children are mercilessly aborted. Our morals have deteriorated to the point that individuals kill without any guilt or second thoughts. Instead of taking advantage of modern technologies, people are ruining themselves. For instance, the number of paedophiles has never been this high. Internet has shown the true side of society. Never have children been so ignored, as parents are extremely busy in making money. No generation had as many resources as ours but they are only destroying our lives. With internet, we can ruin our life with a single mouse click. Similarly, we can kill innocent citizens like us by a single click, without leaving out homes. We have access to endless TV channels that encourage us to take part in activities and competitions that would have been disapproved by society a few years ago. We can indulge in activities and fear no punishment. What is the point of having luxuries when our mental health is at stake? Likewise, statistics demonstrate that each year psychotherapies and rate of addiction is accelerating in America. This means that people can longer manage their lives. Therefore, they use alternatives like drugs, alcohol, or medications to feel happy again. American public has failed to realise personal duties. Teenagers are caught in drug deals and the police are to blame? Similarly, little girls are displayed as objects of desire in beauty agents; young girls wear clothes with vulgar texts on their behinds. However, when they grow up, we are surprised at why they are immoral and ineffective. Some years ago, a terrible incident occurred in which a man interrupted a meeting by Gabrielle Giffords and started firing. He murdered six people and twelve people were injured including Gifford who was shot in the head. This example portrays the ‘eye-to-eye’ perception in America. Apparently, the Nation that assists other countries in trouble is currently invading a country that caused no harm. A country that has refused to select a president until everyone agrees ‘love Israel and God’, and kills hundreds of innocent people in a year. American politicians are giving a confusing message; they say one thing but do another. We need to change our social mentality. It is essential to remember that the dreadful death of a being cannot be solved or compensated by murdering another human. Societies that are headed by immoral or unethical leaders are driven towards downfall. Such leaders infect society. Hitler, the bloodthirsty barbarian contaminated the entire German public with the same immoral characteristics. Thus, integrity, ethics, and morals are integral for the smooth functioning of a society. The chronicles of history show that previously people possessed better manners, preferred living, and honourable life. Lao Tzu was an eminent Chinese scholar and the founding father of Taoism. He advocated that the worst nation is that which is ruled by a tyrannical, profit driven, and corrupt leaders who are least bothered with his people. The fall of the Roman Catholic Empire ensued in the Dark Ages from sixth to thirteenth century. This period was characterized with ungodliness, blasphemy as people lost their faith. The archives of history are filled with examples of immorality and depravity when people lose faith. Intellect, society, and economic conditions drastically deteriorated during the Dark Ages. Leaders labelled literature and faith as devious; instead, depravity and dissipation were deemed noble. The noteworthy factor is that be it Dark Ages or Renaissance, leaders make imperative contributions. They are responsible for establishing standards for others to adopt. When particular morals are valued, then people who fail to adopt them are punished. The marvellous point about human kind is that they have the ability to learn. Therefore, they can be taught to distinguish good from evil. This is even easier since I believe that goodness is innate. Unluckily, personal purpose if mistaken for self-centeredness. The distinguishing factor is that a self-interested person is concerned with reforming himself that in turn helps other members in a society. However, a selfish person does not mind gaining by hurting others. Thus, we can draw the conclusion that Americans are now more interested in profiting themselves instead of living an honourable life. The government is suggesting that those who work hard and pay taxes are somehow devious, whereas, those who survive on the funds of others are somehow justified (Campbell, Converse and Rodgers). Over the previous five decades, corporate taxes have diminished and tax burden has been shifted from industry to individuals. Most sources used by the government to collect funds are regressive in nature. This means that a poor man has to pay a higher percentage of his total income as compared to a millionaire to the state. At present, the addition of all taxes, fines, penalties, and tariffs show that all Americans pay almost the same amount of money to the government. By adopting flat income taxation, the progressive income tax would be replaces with regressive income tax. This would result in poor Americans paying more in taxes. Many economists state that there has been the greatest redistribution of income over the last few decades; however, all upwards. Generally, Americans have no genuine saving. Thus, they are finding it difficult to support their lifestyles and have taken loans. This in turn has increased eaten up all their savings. Interest payments are another way for transferring wealth from the poor class to the already rich class. The American society is quite beneficial for businesspersons, heirs, chief executives of companies. American has become small-minded and discourteous towards others. The selfish people who feel that they have a right to share other people’s earnings, for instance the Occupy Wall Street movement, can prove this. However, society follows the footsteps of its leaders. The public would not behave otherwise since leaders like Obama, Harry Reid themselves advocate the Occupy Wall Street movement. A bunch of corrupt, selfish politicians is actually running the so-called democracy. This in turn is corrupting the morals, manners, and nobility of the entire nations. America should be seen as the Roman Empire, which ultimately declined over a period of seven centuries. The American nation will inevitably collapse if society is not moved away from the existing path. Thus, it is critical for honourable, diligent leaders to be elected, the attributes on which America was established. Unarguably, rudeness is accelerating in America. Nowadays, people do not mind taking calls during movies in the cinema; they hurl insults in the street; the list is endless. A survey by CNN revealed that 79% out of the 2013 individuals stated that a disrespect and discourtesy is widespread in America. 61% held that the problem had worsened during the recent years; hence, we can conclude that rudeness has become considerably worse. These days you see absolutely simple and uncomplicated directions, labels, and cautions on majority of the products. The imperative question is that how much common sense does one need to apply a deodorant? You open the lid, spray it, and put the lid back on again. Now do the instructions for this really have to be spelled out? A recent incident involving the purchase of hot coffee by a woman from McDonalds took everyone aback. Not astonishingly, the coffee spilled in her lap as she drove. However, to everyone’s amazement the woman was victorious in suing McDonalds. It is a wonder why individuals require labels on every product. Perhaps, people are silly enough to screw without precise instructions. When they do, the company is taken to court. The entire blame cannot be laid on the public; in fact, the government has adopted a similar careless and indolent approach. The government is least concerned with the well-being of people anymore. The recent incident whereby studies exposed that Chinese manufactured toys contained lead and the pet food was poisonous was swept under the carpet. They might not be able to sue them; however, they surely can terminate importing products that are injurious. The bottom line is that the state is getting more and more nonchalant. It is difficult to interlink escalating gas prices with unemployment. Think of it this way, as prices go up, the cost of commuting rises. Therefore, more portion of the paycheck is invested in daily travelling, which leaves little money for paying other expenses. When people fail to pay for accelerating bills and mortgages; naturally, they are forced to pick between the car and their home. Usually people prefer giving up their cars, which means they cannot commute to work; hence, become unemployed. Redundancy means that they no longer have an income to sustain expenses. Thus, they are compelled to give up their homes. Interestingly, this vicious cycle started due to the gluttony of the government. The American economic framework proved more successful than the socialist regimes. In the end, all socialist structures crumbled due to internal failures. However, the celebrations might be going too far. Apparently, the American economy has performed well over the centuries. Nevertheless, majority of the economists have agreed that there is one huge flaw in this system. This is the fact that the wealth is concentrated amongst the literate, industrialists who are already wealthy. The richer are getting richer and vice-versa. Recent surveys have exposed that income differential has risen during the recent years. This shows overall the per capita income; hence, the standard of living has fallen. Economic growth has always been favoured. Competitive market frameworks showed that approximately two-thirds of income is paid as wages. Therefore, an expanding, full employment economic system means that the standard of living becomes better. However, statistics have proved that labour might be paid two-thirds of the total national income but only skilful individuals benefit. Thus, income disparity has greatly increased as proved by statistics since 1970s. The Census Bureau reported that the level of poverty has risen in America from 11.3% in 2000 to 14.3% in 2009. However, politicians would not reveal this fact to us. They only deceive us into thinking that everything is under control. Then why does not reality show such progress? In 2002, 1.7 billion Americans fell below the poverty level, totalling to 34.6 million people. Unfortunately, 13 million of these people are children. In fact, America has the poorest child poverty and life expectancy ratios as compared to other developed nations of the worlds. Surprisingly 31 million Americans are termed as “food insecure”; this denotes that these people do not know from where they will get their next meal. The US Agriculture department revealed that 9million out of these people experience ‘real hunger’ which they defined as “uneasy or painful sensation caused by lack of food due to lack of resources to obtain food”. The question is that who benefits from American companies producing genetically engineered seeds to increase food production? Several stimulus reforms were made; chief banks and industries were rescued. This only made millionaires into super millionaires whereas it did not improve the unemployment or poverty situation. The two political parties continue to be re-elected. It does not matter which one gets the seat since they are not concerned with the well-being of the Americans. Everyone amongst them has jobs, which the American public pays for. The system is structured in a way that they will be employed for lifetime. We, the public have no power or choice but to hear their arguments related to how much tax we should pay from which government payroll is paid. Downsizing of jobs will continue as most American corporations have realised that they actually profit by firing people. They will even benefit if the company goes bankrupt, even if they fool consumers. Unfortunately, in my opinion even the laws passed by our judicial system are ambiguous and limited to the common person. If you have enough wealth to take legal action, then you have won anyway as Johnny Cochran put it, “You are innocent until proven poor”. For instance, big companies are buying out family businesses or wiping them out by setting lower prices. The same corporations also hire part-time workers so that they do not have to pay for long-term benefits. Businesses such as Monsanto are known for their private police and other unlawful practices. Recently they sued a poor farmer, Peter Schmeiser by claiming patent infringement of their genetically modified seeds. They asserted that they own cross-pollinated crops even if they grew in Schmeiser’s fields. They have adopted a similar attitude towards meat farmers. They have sued a farmer as they maintain that they own all pigs, which carry a particular engineered gene. Once Monsanto becomes the monopoly, then why would they reduce prices? However, due to their immense funds in election campaigns, the judgements were given in their favour. The American nation needs to protest against our representatives so that they fight for us instead of large companies. Otherwise, we will all become slaves of such corporations, with our lives being dictated by written agreements. Works Cited Campbell, Angus, Philip E. Converse and Willard L. Rodgers. The Quality of American Life: Perceptions, Evaluations, and Satisfactions. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1976. Read More