It hurts … inside of me. Why has a country I am so proud of become so accepting of rude and crude behavior within both our social and news media?

I understand one can be angry about circumstances and situations. I can relate to the unfairness we see witnessed on many occasions. But the constant unrelenting barrage of rude and crude language and behavior is not needed and it makes of us so much less than what I know us (Americans) to be.

In the past handful of years, I first thought it was an anomaly occurring on social media with just a few indulging in profanity and boorish behavior. And then I began noticing more and more of the same along with intense verbal bullying and the degradation of an individual or a group. With each passing day I am witnessing even more of this same breakdown in what should be common respect and courtesy: Lack of moral fiber, the inability to say something without reducing the subject matter to the most base of terminology. And this is happening in both social and the public news media.

Many of those who do not engage in this behavior act as if it doesn’t exist. There is no moral outrage being expressed, just a pretended ignorance – this is so very sad. It says that we (the people) would rather accept this behavior than be vocal about the wrongness of it, for I am convinced that much of the negative emotions being felt and expressed in our daily lives are directly related to the universal acceptance of completely unacceptable social behavior.

Silence can be a good thing but it can also be a very bad thing when wrong behavior is happening and the majority of people pretend to ignore it, thereby making it acceptable. And whether it’s a popular celebrity or a politician (and an especial shame on them as their behavior is often emulated by those in the private sector) or we private citizens, the results are the same.

Small wonder our current political arena is such a mess. There is almost no dignity, only mud slinging and filthy rhetoric which as we all know is incredibly exhausting to us, leaving many indecisive, confused and fearful.

Public media (both social and news) should be about  people informing each other with information, and or an exchange of thoughts, ideas and feelings being expressed in terminology that is not degrading and disgusting.

My spirit is sad at this continuing painful and negative turn in the daily events of our lives. I am hopeful it changes and that each of us begin to accept a part of the responsibility for allowing this to not only happen but to fester, growing into the nasty beast it has become.

Thank you,

~ Penny