Reaganites and Bushites were also successful at creating laws that enable the very wealthy few to get even more and more wealthy, while the majority of us have continually become less well off, the middle class has kept shrinking, more and more people have fallen into the working poor population, and the environment and infrastructure have suffered neglect. And all this has had a profoundly negative impact on many families and on our society in general, and it has exacerbated the problems of poverty, hunger, homelessness, violence and crime.
But the Reaganites and Bushites have certainly not been the only other bad examples.
On television we have seen police committing unnecessary and illegal acts of violence, and we've seen professional athletes in sports arenas slugging it out in disgusting and sickening displays of aggravated violence. Unfortunately, it seems that fair play, proper restraint and good sportsmanship have become less and less important, and it is apparent that they are taught less and less by those who should be teaching it and demanding it. So we must draw the line. We are being far too enabling and permissive of the really bad examples.
As it is now, we see all kinds of violence on television. Some of it is intentionally produced and legally sanctioned, and some of it is displayed on the news when perpetrated by people blatantly breaking the law and disturbing the peace. On television news programs the sports commentators apparently love to show the fights and bad behavior as highlights. But, while the entertainment industry and news media can freely choose subject matter and decide what is newsworthy and what is not, I question the decisions they've been making. I question the necessity or usefulness of producing or broadcasting scenes of violence, because I believe it is contagious and fosters more violence. I think we need to realize what impact words and images have, and use more discretion.
I suspect that television producers operate on the idea that violence sells, because it does appeal to our lowest, beastly nature. In fact, it appeals to that contagious spirit that has attracted ugly lynch mobs, and it attracts crowds who gather around to watch people fighting. It really should sicken and repel us, but, in the culture we've created, it excites and fascinates many people. It has become entertainment, as it was in the corrupted ancient Roman Empire before its inevitable demise, and its influence has gotten so bad and so pervasive that it could be said we now have a "kick butt" culture in which violence is entertainment.
Unfortunately, there are even worse indicators of that, and worse indicators of our moral decline. In addition to the neighborhood gangs and the partisan political gangs, we also have other gangs. We have thugs and gangsters on some of our police forces, who are also corrupted by the idea that might makes right. We even have thugs and gangsters at the highest level of some governments, who are corrupted by the same idea, who fight and kill their enemies in turf wars in different places in the world. And, along with that and as a result of that, we have thugs and gangsters who regard themselves as guerrilla "freedom fighters," even though they are actually criminal terrorists committing indiscriminate mass murder.
They are all fighting and killing each other to gain power and domain, or to take revenge, and some of them even do it to gain worldly wealth. They are totally corrupt, and very dangerous. Thank goodness, the perpetrators are very much in the minority. But, unfortunately, even one hatemonger can incite much violence, death and destruction in the world.
However, while the hatemongers and warmongers are the most dangerous and harmful bad examples, there are even more bad examples our children and youth are following, and it's high time we face it because these examples can directly and indirectly lead to crime and violence.
One notable example of those kinds of bad examples is how our children and youth are being influenced by "rap music," much of which incites them to develop bad attitudes and bad and even harmful behaviors. That's because many "rappers," in effect, represent sexist, racist, violent thugs and gangsters, and they are terrible examples and influences on our children and youth.
Granted, not all rappers are bad examples, because some are not so bad, and a few are even good. That must be said. But even so, many are terrible, because they exploit the appetites and desires of youth who are easily tempted, misled and corrupted, especially those who have a tendency to be disrespectful, rebellious and defiant of the authority of parents, teachers, etc.
Bad rappers have even made the attitude and culture of black ex-convicts popular. One notable example of that is the "stop snitching" campaign they've pushed on their records and videos. It has tragically enabled many black criminals and gangsters to get away with rape, murder, robbery, assault and battery, and many other crimes, because witnesses and victims have been led to believe that it's a bad thing to "snitch" or report crimes perpetrated by black criminals. It's considered being disloyal to their race.
But that is not true. In fact, it is misleading propaganda initiated by black thugs and gangsters who think they are entitled to do whatever they want and use violence to intimidate and rule, and rappers are responsible for this trend being widespread. In fact, their influence is no doubt what led the "Jena 6" (the six young black students in Jena, Louisiana) to gang up on one white student and kick him while he was on the ground until he was unconscious. (And I say that not because I am unaware that the black students were maliciously and cruelly provoked by white students who hung a rope with a noose on a tree to keep black students away from their "territory." I say it because the assault, beating and kicking was wrong, regardless of the provocation.)
Another notable, albeit less harmful example, can be easily seen in all the boys and young men in America who wear their pants so ridiculously low that they have to waddle when they walk to keep their pants from falling down, and they cannot run. Ironically, they don't realize that this fad was started by ex-convicts who had gotten used to ill-fitting prison pants that were too large. That's because before prisons sensibly switched to jump suits, they used to pass out pants to prisoners without caring if they were too big, so prisoners were humiliated and forced to wear pants that were too big and nearly falling down. But, out of spite, the black prisoners got used to it, and when they got out of prison, black ex-convicts kept wearing pants that were ill-fitting and too big because they were used to it. And, unfortunately, this was eventually considered "cool" by impressionable boys and young men. It baffles me that they do not realize how ridiculous they look.
However, my point is that certain "rap music" and "hip hop" records and videos have had and are having a bad influence on our children and youth. In fact, they've had a bad influence on society, because for some odd reason many people think some of that influence is "cool." Take, for instance, how certain slang words coined by rappers have been adopted by many people, like "bling" for jewelry. I think part of the reason for this is that many white people bend over backwards to be accepting and approving of whatever black people do, just to prove they aren't racists. To me it's pandering and enabling, and in the long run it is degrading, in a societal sense.
It is not being racist to say that. I say it because I need to say it, just as I need to condemn racism thoroughly, and fully explain how and why racism against blacks and hispanics deeply infects the whole political-economic-law enforcement-criminal justice system in America, as I explained above on this page.
However, racism and the injustice of the criminal justice system does not excuse the black thugs and gangsters, or the rappers who promote and try to glorify their attitude and culture.
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