4um: Five Consequences of America’s Moral Collapse

Americans have become so “non-judgmental” that many people can no longer tell the difference between good and evil. We congratulate ourselves for being “nicer,” more sensitive and less prejudiced than past generations of Americans, but we don’t stop to consider how much more there is to morality than that.

An America that isn’t full of good people won’t remain a good nation, nor will it remain strong and free over the long haul. Our country’s lack of morality has real consequences that are capable of eventually sinking us as a nation.

1) The Collapse Of Marriage: There used to be quite a bit of social stigma attached to getting a divorce or having a child out of wedlock. That’s no longer true and consequences for society have been horrific.

“Controlling for socioeconomic status, race, and place of residence, the strongest predictor of whether a person will end up in prison is that he was raised by a single parent. By 1996, 70 percent of inmates in state juvenile detention centers serving long-term sentences were raised by single mothers. Seventy-two percent of juvenile murderers and 60 percent of rapists come from single-mother homes. Seventy percent of teenage births, dropouts, suicides, runaways, juvenile delinquents, and child murderers involve children raised by single mothers. Girls raised without fathers are more sexually promiscuous and more likely to end up divorced. A 1990 study by the Progressive Policy Institute showed that after controlling for single motherhood, the difference between black and white crime rates disappeared.

Various studies have come up with slightly different numbers, but all the figures are grim. According to the Index of Leading Cultural Indicators, children from single-parent families account for 63 percent of all youth suicides, 70 percent of all teenage pregnancies, 71 percent of all adolescent chemical/substance abuse, 80 percent of all prison inmates, and 90 percent of all homeless and runaway children.

A study cited in the Village Voice produced similar numbers. It found that children brought up in single-mother homes ‘are five times more likely to commit suicide, nine times more likely to drop out of high school, 10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances, 14 times more likely to commit rape (for the boys), 20 times more likely to end up in prison, and 32 times more likely to run away from home.’ Single motherhood is like a farm team for future criminals and social outcasts.”

Instead of trying to reverse the crippling damage being done to our country by the collapse of marriage, we’ve chosen to degrade it even further by allowing same sex unions, soon to be followed by polygamous unions that will degrade the institution ever further. If it’s true that marriage is the bedrock of society, then our nation’s house is built on sand.

2) Crime: Despite the fact that China and India have populations four times our size, it’s stunning that America has the largest prison population on Earth. Not coincidentally, America’s once sky-high crime rate dropped as massive numbers of criminals were locked away.

Bizarrely, many people talk about crime as if it’s divorced from morality. We hear about a supposed “rape culture,” school shootings, the “Knockout Game,” child abuse, etc., etc., etc. without making the obvious connection to morals. Good kids aren’t raping anybody, assaulting strangers to prove they’re tough or shooting up movie theaters unless they’re mentally ill.

Kids who are taught about good and evil, right and wrong, patriotism, chivalry and honor are going to make mistakes. A few of them will even turn out to be bad apples. However, full though our prisons may be, they are not full of God-fearing men. They’re full of people who are morally adrift.

3) Poor Government: America seems to be becoming progressively less governable and there are many reasons for that.Government has become too big to effectively manage, both parties have moved away from the center, gerrymandering has decreased the power of voters and increased the power of special interest groups – we could go on and on. Despite the fact that it’s seldom discussed, one of the biggest factors is the dishonesty of our own politicians.

How does that play a role? Well, it’s impossible to cut any kind of meaningful long-term deal on taxes, spending, immigration or any other big issue because neither party can be trusted to stick to a deal. Politicians lie to the voters, they lie to the other party and they even lie to their colleagues on the same side of the aisle.

On the one hand, it’s extraordinarily difficult to govern a nation without long term planning, but how do you plan for the future when no politician’s word means anything?

4) Dependence: Americans have traditionally been some of the most self-reliant people on the face of the earth. People used to be ashamed to be on the dole even if they felt like they had no other choice. Judging by the numbers we see today, that’s no longer true.

More than 1/3 of the population, 109 million Americans, are on welfare. That’s more people than there are in the four most populous states in America (California, Texas, New York and Florida) COMBINED. More than 45 million Americans are receiving food stamps. Nearly 11 million Americans, a number larger than the population of Greece, are on disability.

Does anyone care how many of these people are legitimately having hard times and need a little temporary assistance to get back on their feet versus how many are parasites who are looting the system? It certainly doesn’t seem like it. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of people who even feel bad about being on the dole either. In fact, it’s probably more of a social faux pas to suggest that people should feel bad about living off other people’s labor than it is to sponge off the taxpayers without regret. That’s why it’s not just an economic problem, it’s a moral problem and it’s one that is likely to get larger as a smaller and smaller share of workers are asked to shoulder the load for people who don’t work for a living.

5) Lack Of Civility And Manners: The great Samuel Adams once said, “A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.”

Between the anonymity of the Internet, the crudity of much of modern music and TV along with our bad habit of rewarding every reality show star and jackass with 15 minutes of fame as long as they’re willing to go to any lengths to catch our attention, we’ve become a crass, rude and obnoxious culture.

We live in a country that often rewards sarcasm instead of wisdom, rudeness instead of insight and the squeaky wheel instead of the farsighted patriot. You’re more likely to get your way in America if you claim to be angry, offended or can just make enough noise on social media than if you’re plain old right. How well is that working out for our country?