davjohns 1 #1 January 12, 2011 The recent thread about gun control got me thinking. Lots of thread on here discuss how government (often mis-labeled as 'society') should deal with something. It's true with unemployment / welfare, firearms, violence, and a host of other things. In the past, the community or family handled much that we now look to the government for. The family disarmed you if you were dangerous. The community dealt with you if they knew you were a worthy person out of work due to unfortunate circumstances or disabled. Your family or community whupped your rear if you were an ass. If you would not work, you generally did not eat. Today, taking care of business at the lowest (I say 'most efficent') level will get you charged in a government court in some cases. In the case of faked disabilities or refusal to work, government automatons process your paperwork and dole out money. Sometimes, we have government programs that tell you how to get money out of those who do work. Are we really better off? Will we ever get back to local responsibility? When my daughter and I go for a walk, we carry trash bags and pick up garbage. I've seen her friends throw stuff on the floor and declare, "They have people to pick that up here". (You can imagine how that went.) I've changed lots of tires on the side of the road for people. I've watched plenty of people go right past a very pregnant woman with a flat. So, is it your community; or is it the government's?I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet.. But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #2 January 12, 2011 The 'community' feeling of smaller cities/neighborhoods seems to be dying out, due, I feel, to today's litigious trends - it creates the attitudes of 'it's not my business' and 'I don't want to get sued'.Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skyrider 0 #3 January 12, 2011 You actually answered your own question , IMO, It "starts" with Family, (which I never understood until I made one of my own) I nevr realised how much a Parent can do to help steer a young person! Then , when you have tight families, you get "communities" ! Myself, I am the Captain of our neighborhood watch, (scarey huh) there is nothing happens within 3 blocks of me, I don't know about! People have got to get back to helping each other... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #4 January 12, 2011 QuotePeople have got to get back to helping each other... People used to help each other. Now, people enable each other. There's a fine line... My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wmw999 2,123 #5 January 12, 2011 It's not just that. It really started with the social and physical mobility getting better and better through the 20th century, and increasing population density. 100 years ago, if you wanted to get away from your folks, you could go out west. But it was tough there, and there weren't a lot of people. Otherwise, you probably stayed pretty close to home. Boys would work with their dad or another relative and just move into that job; girls got married young and stayed close. Now you can move 1000 miles away and cut contact with your family very, very easily. Many of us like it that way. That also means, however, that the enforcing mechanism of family and community is gone. Of course, that's why some of us moved away Wendy P. There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #6 January 12, 2011 Quote It's not just that. It really started with the social and physical mobility getting better and better through the 20th century, and increasing population density. 100 years ago, if you wanted to get away from your folks, you could go out west. But it was tough there, and there weren't a lot of people. Otherwise, you probably stayed pretty close to home. Boys would work with their dad or another relative and just move into that job; girls got married young and stayed close. Now you can move 1000 miles away and cut contact with your family very, very easily. Many of us like it that way. That also means, however, that the enforcing mechanism of family and community is gone. Of course, that's why some of us moved away Wendy P. Very good point, as usual!!Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 2,400 #7 January 12, 2011 >In the past, the community or family handled much that we now look to >the government for. The family disarmed you if you were dangerous. I don't think all that much has changed. Some families had dangerous members. Clearly they didn't disarm them at a much greater rate than they do now; gun crime has actually fallen in the past 15 years or so, and before that, there wasn't much of a ramp-up. What has changed is easier access to guns. Which is a consequence of easier access to _everything_ - it's not gun specific. We also have more information at our fingertips, which means that both gun incidents and reactions to gun incidents are much more visible than they were before. >When my daughter and I go for a walk, we carry trash bags and pick up >garbage. I've seen her friends throw stuff on the floor and declare, "They have >people to pick that up here". (You can imagine how that went.) I've changed lots >of tires on the side of the road for people. I've watched plenty of people go right >past a very pregnant woman with a flat. That hasn't changed much. My grandparents grew up in NYC in the 30's and complained about the layabouts there who lived "on the welfare" who had no sense of personal responsibility. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lindsey 0 #8 January 12, 2011 In a little-ol'-bitty town, like mine, even less has changed. Somebody calls the police on my son, who is riding his 4-wheeler on public roads, the police tell 'em, "He'll go home soon," and he does. Kids walk to Sonic for a coke float. We take care of our regulars in the ER as if they really had something wrong with 'em. When somebody *does* have something wrong with 'em, they're on every prayer chain in the county within 25 minutes. I love it! :) linz-- A conservative is just a liberal who's been mugged. A liberal is just a conservative who's been to jail Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
