As a citizen under 30 ( Gen Y) belonging to these greatest states of America and the greatest of all of them, Texas... I am beyond appalled by the lava like decay of American morality and societies inability to label it. It could be that possible as a new father for only 3 months now I have already become increasingly aware of the lack of foundation our country is currently detached from and floating over not in the least bit feeling the omission of a moral high ground.
Recent current events such as the Penn State cover up of coach Sandusky and his immoral acts of pedophilia as well as the breeding ground that was supposed to be his charitable organization I believe has simply sent me over the edge. But it was also the global and more surprisingly national build up of the 'occupy wall street' movement that helped me nudge me to the edge that has me staring deep into an abyss that seems all but occupied by the new the moral majority.
The common theme in each of so many cases of crime is the self serving nature of immediacy. Some call it justice, or just perceived responsibility and entitlement to self free of any deserved consequence. This ideal is something we as a nation have embraced at least within marketing, driving habits that have led to a slippery slope. But what concerns me most isn't that we fail to truly treat the problem (like a man with a smokers hack lights up another cigarette)...but it is our inability to acknowledge that we have a smoking problem. Today's lack of a defined taboo or moral standard is terrifying. It has been replaced with justification and motivations, but those are only precursors to the end result which is what one should be accountable for, what we choose to do. Decisions that DEFINE our character or at best lack of judgement. Joe Paterno and those at Penn State made a selfish decision to protect THEMSELVES over doing the right and selfless thing by not holding Sandusky's feet to the fire. No one wanted to be accountable for risking messing up their own or their schools football related circumstances. And while I can say being courageous isn't usually the easy thing to do I would hope someone in this world would hold me to account for doing or not doing the RIGHT thing.
The Occupiers want free EVERYTHING at no cost to them. (Funny how those who have the least to lose seem so willing to take from others with no risk of their own at stake) their destruction of business and property and lack of cooperation with the law is selfish without regard for others. When we started living and thinking about ourselves instead of our communities we reduced our responsibility and became consumed with our ability to serve our own gutless convenient and less than impressive justified motivations for often selfish decisions
Our inability to hold others to account for fear of hypocrisy or political correctness has crippled our ability to "call out" and now even define what is right and wrong, which translates into a society that is void of honesty. Without honesty there is no accountability and no progress and more importantly no moral foundation spoken or unspoken that binds is to convictions and making selfless tough decisions. While I am no saint I do expect to be judged and held accountable for my actions with or without a way to explain my behavior. I will become a better person for these reflections but only by understanding what is wrong or right and acknowledging it can I move forward in a positive direction. This should be the healing PROCESS for our country. I emphasize process to point out that it is something we should strive for daily. We have a smoking problem in America and a hacking cough to match...what will we do about it?
Link: Current Penn State Players Reaction to Coach Paterno's Firing
Link: Current Penn State Players Reaction to Coach Paterno's Firing
The most concerning issue in America today isn't the amount of wrong happening, it's the inability to define it and be accountable to it.
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