THE CURRENT STATE OF CIVILITY?
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There has been an increased rash of demonstrable uncivil behavior in the public arena.  Recently, the music artist Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards encountered a new breed of incivility. Moments after she received one of the music awards rapper Kanye West stormed the stage, plucked the microphone from her hand, and announced in front of the entire audience and millions of viewers at home that Beyonce Knowles had the best video and that she, instead of Swift, deserved the award.

This was less than 24 hours after Serena Williams unleashed a profanity-laden tirade against a line judge at the U.S. Tennis Open after what she thought was a questionable call. The outburst cost her the match when she was penalized a point for her behavior.  And Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouted "You lie!" at President Obama during his health care speech to a joint session of Congress.  By all accounts recently there has been a rash of bad behavior. People, is seem, are no longer restraining their emotions.

An article found here wonders "are these outbursts merely circumstantial, or are they an indication of a shift in our nation's values?"

"'There is an increasing coarseness to American discourse,' columnist George Will said. He blamed our impulsivity and rudeness on a "culture of entitlement" where we celebrate "emotional exhibitionism" on football fields, cable television, and the Internet."

"'We've decided that it is therapeutic to express oneself no matter how coarse one's thoughts, and that whatever is therapeutic is good,' Will said. 'I think we're seeing a kind of emotional exhibitionism whereby people say, 'I said something ghastly, but I said it honestly and sincerely.' And honesty, sincerity, and authenticity are self-legitimizing.'"

It seems, to many, that "anything goes" if one is passionate, sincere, and sorry. As a result there are outbursts, arguments and assaults--verbal and otherwise.  The key root in the word "civilization", however, is "civil".  The definition of "civil" includes being courteous and polite, the concept is based upon one of respect, which of course, is based upon the consideration of others.  One of my favorite definitions of a "gentleperson" is "one who helps others to feel comfortable in their presence."

Perhaps its time for the "me generations", all of us, to consider others as important as ourselves, to return "respect" to our daily routines, and bring a little civility to our world.  Our current crop of celebrities, government leaders, and sports figures certainly DON'T seem to be setting the example.

 
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Added: October 01, 2009. 08:21 AM CDT
Excellent
Excellent article Chris. It seems as our discourse in addition to becoming more course has become one of who shouts the loudest. The calm and sane aspects of the discourse get drowned out by the volume.
aikidoc1
 
 
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