Prophesies? Or not?
I am 67 and remember many warnings given children and parents through the years. I've also learned of warnings given to generations before me. In the years I have been on this earth my observation is that the prophets of doom have been both right and wrong. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion (note the use of the whole phrase) they have been mostly right. It's just taken longer than most of them predicted, but it has been a withering process nonetheless. Some examples: It was predicted in the fifties that rock 'n' roll would lead to a wholesale erosion of morals and values. For the most part it has, but not without help. When the adults and the big companies who originally opposed it realized how much money there was in this "evil music" they aided the advancement -- or deterioration, if you will -- to line their pockets. In the sixties it was predicted that TV would lead to the downfall of America through - that's right - the erosion of morals and values. It did that, but also set us up for the acceptance of all things appearing on a screen as being more real than what is around us. In the seventies "hippies" were decried for using marijuana and LSD, that it would ruin an entire generation. But it got turned around. The tune in, turn on, drop out generation ended up running the big pharmaceuticals convincing us that drugs can solve all our problems. Need it be mentioned that it has been this same generation that told us not to trust "the man" and government, and now runs it telling the rest of us that big government is good for us? Examples galore, but the point is, the deterioration of our culture has not come about through single, news-making events. It has come through the creeping compromise we've all come to accept from every direction and every angle.
