--Glorification of violence as a means of problem-solving --Glorification of materialism encouraging theft and fraud --Demonization of the wealthy justifying "rob from the rich" mentality --Disregard of indigent justifying unrestricted survivalism --Glorification of individualism leading to veneration of self above all others --"YOLO" mentality prompting disregard for future impact of present choices --Denigration of the value of age/wisdom/experience, reducing the willingness of youth to listen to/seek out reasoned adult guidance I'm sure others can list many more. And I realize that all of these are subjectively-perceived generalizations, so all of these can certainly be argued against, but I think all of these lead to greater willingness to engage in illegal behavior.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Does American culture hold these stances appreciably more than European or Scandinavian/Nordic cultures? Or does the fact that we have so many more desperate people than those places (as a result of poor policy) expose us to more of it, thereby helping to shape our culture? That seems more likely to me...
I know your questions were not directed towards me, but i would like to provide a response if I may. Im not so sure in todays day and age we can attribute most crimes to poor policies. We are now in a time where we have rampant information available and fed to us on a daily basis on how to get help, live a healthy lifestyle, make sound decisions etc. 30 plus years ago and beyond, basically prior the internet, this may have held true a bit more. But we have become civilized and have expanded our common knowledge to the point where even the poorest of folks in this country still have access to help and guidance. They still have to make a choice and then be held accountable for those choices. They can choose to vote and help push out policies they don't believe help them and they can look for guidance from one of many programs out there. Hell, my mortgage broker holds free seminars for first time buyers to help them know more about the process and what it takes to buy a home. All people have to do is use google for the right choices, instead of spend all day on social media crying about how they are so helpless. My nephew is staying with us for a while, trying to figure out what he wants to do, go to college( he is 18) but all he does is sit upstairs all day laughing and talking to his friends on some social media platform. We offered him work at my wife's store and he said nah he wants to keep applying to colleges. Like you cant do that online in the evenings and work during the day until you are accepted somewhere? Lol. What it seems to come down to, to me, is we have entered a roman’s lifestyle of feeling entitled in all aspects of life. I was brought up with the mindset that if you work hard you will succeed in life. Work hard and get a raise. Now it seems its flipped to, ill work hard when they pay me more. Im not doin shit until they pay me. And i really think alot of what platy noted feeds this flip. There are for hire signs all over for those who actually want to work. People choose to not work and live a life of crime regardless of policy, and society has been increasingly glorifying this mentality, instead of pushing back and saying its wrong. Its like a growing fad. Just my personal opinions and observations based on an individual and country wide level.
This is thanks to mass media hunting for clicks... Not sure it's worse here than any place else. Except that we're the largest media market in the world. See above. Upon looking, it appears the US glorifies the wealthy more than nearly any other country. Rich People: Hated in China, Venerated in America? 10 Countries Where People Say The Rich Deserve Their Money: Survey (US is towards the top of the list) This is true, which goes hand in hand with glorifying the rich. I'm thinking this is media as well. Only way to fight it is good education... Poor and desperate people make poor and desperate decisions at higher rates. Study after study backs this up. Improved policy is the only possible solution. It's unfortunate we have so many MAGA boomers. They certainly aren't helping in this respect... But again, better education will have to come from better policy. I went through item by item trying to think of each as it's own problem, how it came to be a problem, and how it could potentially be solved. Improved education and policy are the only logical solutions to any of these problems as far as I can tell.
I think teaching people how to consume media responsibly would eliminate "social media" from being the devil... But that would take improving our education system, which would be a significant policy change.
How does one teach the removal of vanity and narcism from peoples’ behavioral patterns? Because that’s essentially what we are talking about here. The masses use social media to portray a glorified persona of ones self that isnt typically reality, enhancing thier beauty, importance and anything else that makes them feel like the rest of social media loves them , notices them, etc. Social media is not really needed to find gainful employment unless you include sites like linkin in to be a social media site. And what if they already know all the evils of social media and just keep using it anyhow? How do you teach people to not give in? its an addiction. My nephew cant walk down the stairs without staring at his phone. He talks about how he has studied social media influences on the public, claims he is aware of how much of a waste of time it is and yet still sits on social media site all day every day. I do not think this is as simple as “teach them” There is something far deeper to the core of human psych that is drawing us to social media. The need to feel wanted… the need to feel important. How do you teach that this need to feel important is living a false reality through the internet and takes away from them living their real life? To me it isn't that youth isn't educated, its that they are disregarding the knowledge already out there.
You don't teach them not to use it. You teach people to decipher the real from the fake. You teach people to have better lives and how to find that feeling in healthy ways. You give them options and there will be fewer holes to fill. The reality is that there can be no resolution other than education coupled with support or authoritarian measures. At least, I can't think of anything.
Me neither. But the education is still out there as evidenced first hand by my nephew. Het he and many many others his age range disregard this knowledge to continue to propelle this false image of themselves online instead of using the tools available to actually be productive and improve themselves in real life. The only answer is to shut it all down and force us back to paper pens and pencils and rotary dial phones. Lol. The only answer is for society to give up some freedoms to better our way of life as a society and culture. Not that i agree with it, per say, but that is the only solution i see to remove this ever increasing nonproductive behavior in our youth.
Nobody in public schools is getting the education I'm talking about here in the US (). Again, it would take a drastic change in our education system. A drastic change in policy. I'm not at all interested in fewer freedoms. That's the beginning of the end. I'd rather stick with what we have.
Everyone has access and can learn about social media education. Its everywhere. But this isn't a public schooling issue. This is a parenting issue. School time should be spent educating kids on how to build skills and expand vocabulary, etc. not learn social behaviors. Thats a parental responsibility. Not sure how you can claim that nobody os teaching this when its being discussed and taught in highschools regardless. Individuals still make choices about how they want to spend their time. No amount of education is going to change this when the information is out there and they are teaching about social media influences in high school, per my nephew, already. You like using absolutes like “nobody”. Thats factually incorrect. Sure wish you would refrain from such absolutes. Its factually incorrect and makes it difficult to have a positive conversation. If you are referring to how to educate our youth on how to use tech tools available and how social media influences us, its absolutely being discussed and taught in schools. At least some. I do agree i am not for less freedoms as well other than possible population control.
I'm not strictly talking about social media. I'm talking about media in general. I'm talking about teaching our youth how to critically appraise any information. We're not doing that. We've actually never been great at doing it. Our education style is about brainwashing worker bees. That's our problem, from my perspective.
ahh i understand what you are saying now. This might be tough because its a newer concept. Yes there has always been fake news aNd manipulative reporting, but never have we seen the percentages of intentional fake news to warp ones mind than ever before in history. So though i agree with you this is a huge problem, im not sure there is a clear answer yet, as this is a real time growing problem. There is little history to use as guidance to find a quality solution already tested and proven. Im willing to bet every single person who has a smart phone has been subject and victim to this false social media news reporting. I know i have. The average american doesn't have the time to do a thorough fact check of every headline we read. At least i dont. I think we need to develop a clearer outline of who is a reporter snd who is not authenticated and this, potentially sending out false information. I might cut my finger, soak it with peroxide, wash it out and bandage it up, doesn't mean i can try to pass myself off as a doctor and if i tried, it would be clear im faking it. We need some clearer lines to know what is authenticated reporting that has been fact checked by the reporter. They are the ones who should be researching prior to sharing, but now its all about who can get the headline out first, regardless of the validity of said headline. Reporters should be held to a higher standard and those that meet them, should have labels/recognition as such, for the public to know they are trustworthy and providing accurate and full news. The general public should not have to be educated (though i agree it might have to be done anyhow) on how to weed out false news. News reporters should be held to higher standards allowing trust from their readers. I agree with you. This is one of the biggest problems we have and its continuing to grow. It should be at the forefront of agendas our elected officials should be focusing on.
People increasingly get information from more than just news reporters. While I believe that anything that portrays itself as a news outlet should be held accountable for spreading lies, there is no way to track down all of the lies on the internet and legislate them away. No. The more effective solution is improving our education system so that those lies become less profitable to tell.
Its very easy to say improve the education system so that lies are less profitable. Doing so, not so much. Im not advocating weeding out the lies. Im advocating weeding out the truth via verification. No real reporter would m want to put such a reputation at risk by not verifying their reports. These reporters should stand out more and not blend in. They should have gold stars. Something to differentiate them from all the other crap floated out there. This responsibility should be in the hands of the reporters. Not the readers.
