[Thunderball]

Its pretty hard to disagree with this article.

People in our Western Society are faced with more choices than ever before, its really quite overwhelming. Society does not prepare us for this, and it starts at home, and is especially prevalent in schools.

Too many broken homes due to selfish people, too much coddling at schools, guess what, some kids can't be doctors and astronauts, and if Little Jimmy failed Grade 4, he should not be placed in Grade 5 because it would be unfair not to. What you end up with are selfish people (learned behavior from mom and dad) who are ill-prepared and have a chip on their shoulder. This can lead to the sort of sociopathic violence we saw in Virginia.

Of course, every generation decries that the one to succeed it will lead to Sodom and Gamorrah. However, we didn't really "boast" this kind of degradation in our society in an era of peace and enlightenment before now.

One thing about the 50s, rightly or wrongly. Everyone had a defined role. Women were women, men were men, children were children. When you think of the "nuclear family", doesn't your mind just go to the typical 50s scene of the man coming home from work, wife preparing dinner, son wanting to toss the football and daughter trying out to be a cheerleader? (Not that this is exactly ideal, just that there were defined roles and expectations)

Take away the roles, and you have what faces us today and in the future. Allan Bloom wrote a fascinating book touching on this, "The Closing of the American Mind."