Society in decline

To the editor:
    What is happening to our society? Nearly everywhere one looks there are signs of decay. Since when have people thought it acceptable to leave the house in pajamas? Such dress shows a lack of respect for one’s own appearance or surroundings. If someone doesn’t take the time to put decent cloths on before greeting the day, what are the odds that they take time to shower, brush their teeth, or take care of any other basic necessities. When students attend classes in a state of slovenliness, it demonstrates their ignorance and lack of appreciation for the teachers or the institution that they are a part of.
    This lack of appreciation should come as little surprise. Many of those who graduate high school today have difficulty reading and writing. This is unfortunate for the ability to read is the one skill that allows a person to learn anything. Reading is fundamental to all civilization, especially to a republic such as ours that relies on a well informed and educated citizenry to function. Without literacy, ignorance reigns. The education system has been so degraded that a high school diploma has become little more than an attendance award rather than an earned honor. Fear not however, for an attendance award will still get a person into college today.
    The quality of labor has suffered as well. Since when has a shovel full of asphalt thrown in a hole in the road and left in a pile passed for a job well done? People used to take pride in their work, no matter what it was; they took pride in knowing that they were being productive and doing their job to the best of their abilities.
    Perhaps we should be thankful that there are people left to work at all, since many able bodied men and women are choosing a life on the public dole instead of a productive working life. What kind of society do we have when large groups of individuals feel no need to be productive members of society and are content to live off of others?
    These problems all have an underlying cause; many have suffered a loss of pride in themselves, their community, and their country. How can a society survive if its people have no sense of purpose, if they don’t take pride in themselves and their surroundings? How can we survive when people don’t care enough to dress themselves decently, and when our education system turns out fewer and fewer educated people each year? How can we survive when work is simply a necessary inconvenience instead of a source of pride, and when many feel no need to work at all?
    The great historian Will Durant said, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within.” Our society is in the process of destroying itself, and is in dire need of revival if it is to survive.
Cody Pond
Haynesville