WESTERN SOCIETY
A GENERATION GONE SOFT
Stes de Necker
We are living in a society where mediocrity, disruption
and anarchy is tolerated and political correctness has completely diminished honesty in almost every sphere
of life.
We are witnessing some
of the most terrible human rights abuses and crimes against humanity in the Middle
East. In Iran people are prosecuted and jailed for speaking out against
corruption and the incompetence of the theocratic Mullah’s regime while thousands of
ordinary citizens are being persecuted, tortured and executed in the most
barbaric ways for so-called offences against the state or the Islamic religion.
Iran has become
the main exporter of terrorism in their quest for world domination. Sharia Law,
(the law of Islam), is carried out indiscriminately and millions of people must
carry the brunt of this theological ideology; while the West can only criticize and
have meetings upon meetings but doing very little else to stop these crimes
against humanity.
The question what happened. Why is the West suffering from this lame duck syndrome?
The answer is easy. Western
society has gone soft. It is easier to adopt an ‘ostrich mentality’ of burying
their heads in the sand and pretend not to see anything, rather than getting involved
and do something about it.
Albert Einstein, the world famous scientist once said: “The
world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them
without doing anything.”
In the West there
are today more people living on entitlement programs than ever before in the
history of the world. Freedom of speech is only granted as long as what you are
saying falls safely within the boundaries of being politically correct. Nearly
every branch of government and every lesson in school is taught in a manner
that is designed to be “non-offensive”.
Anti-bullying
campaigns and even anti-childhood obesity campaigns, are teaching everyone that
they are the victims of society rather than holding them personally accountable
for their actions.
Mediocrity is rewarded. Both in sport and academic events, everyone expects
some kind of award. Today, children are receiving awards for coming in 1st,
2nd, third and even last. This lesson in itself are teaching kids that as long
as they ‘participate’ in life, even without much success, that they are
deserving of something.
Gone are the days where awards were based on achievements, because
society believes that awarding those excelling hurts the self-esteem of those
that are not.
The ‘no child must be left behind”, platform spouted by political activists in the
United States aimed at improving US schools, which was essentially put in place
to try and put all students on a level playing field, has back fired dismally.
It has moved accountability from parents to educators and from students to
teachers.
Corporal punishment has become a crime and alcoholism and drug abuse are
treated as illnesses.
Women are awarded child grants for having babies rather than to work and earn a living and those who don’t want to have children can even now have free legal
abortions.
Criminals, even sexual predators are rehabilitated during incarceration.
People in jail have so many rights that there are literally tons of people
seeking to get arrested so they can get a hot meal, medical attention and even
clean clothes.
It has become unethical to call ‘white people’ white, or to call ‘black
people’ black, or to refer to people from other countries as ‘foreigners’. In
fact, it has become nearly impossible to say anything without it being
misconstrued by some sections of society.
So if people have become more civilised in modern times, why are incidents
of violent crime, bloodshed, and even war, at all time highs. If this is modern civilization, then why all this
hatred and animosity?
The truth is that notwithstanding
how “politically correct” or “civilised advanced” you may be, you will still
not appease everyone and you are still going to get your feelings hurt whether
you want it or not.
There will always
be one person who is better at something than you (or your child). There will
always be dangers, no matter how much padding or protective gear we wear. There
will always be hatred and there will always be the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’.
Life, as it was in
the beginning of time and through the history of evolution, has always beeen a
‘survival of the fittest’ with definitive winners and losers. And each one of
us has a choice of being either a winner or a loser.
It's about time that this
generation takes a look at itself and actually realizes that it's time to wake up
and face the reality of what is happening around them. We are the most pampered
generation in history and it is apparent in both our work ethic and our outlook
on life. We expect things to be hand delivered to us and we love attention and
praise for doing what is required of us.
We are certainly the softest
generation in history and it is time we address this issue before it gets out
of hand. We have to break old habits that are keeping us down. Sometimes these
habits and thoughts were put into our minds by our parents and our society, but
we've got to man up and to take initiative before we evolve into a bunch of
soft whining babies.
The reasons for becoming a
soft society are obvious.
PEOPLE ARE USED TO BEING SPOON FED
Everything is too convenient for our generation. We
understand that our parents wanted to give us the life they never had, but that
may just be the problem. We have been pampered from birth in a comfortable bubble
where we were over protected from the dangers and the challenges of the world
out there.
It's time we wake up and realize the real world
doesn't spoon feed anyone. The world is a rough place and once you’ve left the
confines of your parents home, you will have a rude awakening if you think
everything is going to be as easy as living at home.
PEOPLE SEEK RECOGNITION FOR THE DUMBEST THINGS
There has never been an attention-thirsty
generation quite like ours. From elementary school we had our teachers and
parents kissing our asses and rewarding us for every minor thing that we did.
Do well in a test, here's a sticker; good report card, parents buys a gift.
This reward system has caused many to seek
attention for everything that they do.
This attitude is even carried into the workplace. No
task can be done without seeking some sort of reward. Even when people do the tasks
that are normally required of them at work or in their everyday lives, people seek
recognition.
This mentality needs to be changed as people need
to realize that they do not need additional rewards for doing what they are supposed
to do. That’s why they got appointed and receive a salary in the first
place!
PEOPLE EXPECT TO WORK 9 TO 5 AND BECOME SUCCESSFUL
A big misconception in this generation is the idea
that getting rich quick is actually a feasible possibility.
This great misconception is one of the sad driving
forces in today's generation and it is our job to bring a change to this way of
thinking. The other sad force is believing that the world owes us a
living.
Becoming successful is going to
take time and effort. Nothing comes easy in this world.
If you truly want to become successful, you're
going to have to go beyond the call of duty in order to show people that you
are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals.
People need to understand that a 9 to 5 mentality
is not going to get them anywhere.
PEOPLE GET OFFENDED WHEN SOMEONE CRITICIZES THEM
WITH THE INTENTION OF HELPING THEM IMPROVE AS HUMAN BEINGS
This applies to the manner in which people take
criticism. It is impossible to give constructive criticism to people in our
generation as they all think that they have the answers to everything.
When someone who has been through a certain
experience is trying to help you get through a similar one, it is imperative
that you listen to him/her.
Put your ego aside and take good advice.
people FEEL A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT, AS IF THE WORLD
OWES them SOMETHING FOR BEING ALIVE
In a highly competitive world, we are going to get
nowhere thinking the world owes us anything.
In order to differentiate yourself from the crowd,
you are going to have to show something different in your life and work ethic.
Know
the world is yours, but it doesn't owe you anything.
PEOPLE ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE EASY WAY OUT
We have to be one of the most spoilt generations in
history. Although we are smart and well skilled, our downfall is that we do not
seem to work well in environments where we are not regarded as irreplaceable.
In
addition, people always look for the easy way out.
No one wants to roll up their sleeves and actually
get work done, as they are used to having things served to them. We constantly
wait until the last minute to get things done and we always find something more
interesting to do than the duties we are obligated to get done.
PEOPLE ARE EASILY FLUSTERED BY THE OBSTACLES THEY
FACE
What happened to all the people who enjoyed being
challenged and solving problems?
One of our biggest faults as a group is the way we
are easily deterred by obstacles. Instead of facing obstacles with grit and
creativity, we let them conquer us.
Many people in our generation see hurdles on the
road to success as daunting tasks that cannot be overcome. Instead of getting
intimidated, we need to take the proper time and focus to actually circumvent
these obstacles if we want to improve ourselves and stop looking for excuses for
our failures.
Just because someone has failed at something and
they deem it impossible doesn't mean it cannot be done.
WE REWARD STUPIDITY
There has never been a time where stupidity has
been rewarded quite the way it is done in our generation.
It is hard to believe that people can actually get
national and international recognition for the dumb things they have done. Even
the Nobel Prize Committee now regrets awarding ex US President Obama the Nobel
prize.
People in our generation know more what is going on
in some television ‘soapy’ than what is actually going on in the world. Most of
them are sitting comfortable at home watching a soccer game and drinking their beer than caring
about the fact that the world is on the
brink of a third world war.
‘TIME OUT’ IS OUR PUNISHMENT WHEREAS OLDER
GENERATIONS GOT BEATINGS
We have all heard stories that our grandparents and
parents have told us of how they used to be physically reprimanded for their
transgressions. Nowadays, it's considered child abuse if you lay a hand on your
child. Kids end up suing their parents for assault!
Teachers used to consider a good hiding as a normal
form of disciplining a child. Now schools consider ‘time out’ or ‘detention’ as the 'appropritate punishment'. This has to be one of the softest transitions in our generation. Never
in the history of this world have children been so bad mannered and undisciplined.
The greatest of rebellion today is trying to be chivalrous
and gallant. Chivalry has died and so has being a gentleman in most men. Men
are defined by the contents of their wallets and not by the contents of their manners.
WE LIVE IN AN ERA THAT IS TOO POLITICALLY CORRECT
It has come to a point in our society where we have
to be extremely cautious what we say because people have become way too
sensitive. You cannot speak freely without offending someone or some group these
days. More terms have been labelled as offensive in this generation than at any
time before.
We live in an era in which you can get prosecuted for
using the word ‘homo’ or ‘cripple’.
If you find yourself getting offended by everything
people say, it's time you realize that the problem is with you and not them.
Is this soft society a friendlier,
more human place to be – or is it really hurting the generations to come?
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