The Recession Result of Moral Decay

Regardless of what you may think of the sociocultural issues of the time, the one thing that the people in the 1950's had going for themselves was integrity. Everybody had it, and it was displayed proudly by openly discussing church attendance, by displaying patriotism, by being a great neighbor, and by giving your word via a handshake. It was simply understood back then that being honorable and honest was the norm. It was the selfish jerk who was the oddity, and the outcast.

Nowadays, however, the tables have turned. Those of true honor are of fewer numbers. The number of selfish jerks has increased, which is why we have road rage, frivolous lawsuits, tons of graffiti, etc. and why we feel the need to perpetually lock our doors.

Perhaps it started in the "me" generation of the 80's and snowballed from there, but it was during that era that people began to take pride in being selfish and all about themselves. It was during that time, too, that vanity soared to new heights. It was perfectly acceptable to be self-obsessed.

So now, in the 00's, with church attendance still sliding and courtesy becoming far from common, selfishness found a healthy roosting place, particularly in the industries with the most potential money in them: real estate and home financing. There was no concern in the slightest by those profiting that what they were doing was contributing to a universally-acknowledged inflated real estate market. They all knew it was happening, they all knew it was potentially devastating, yet they could not stop because they were making just too much money to bother with a conscience. Our economy took an enormous tumble and many, many lives were totally ruined by their greed.

Yes, it was a lack of morally-sound decisions that caused our current recession. Selfishness, plain and simple. Selfishness is always our human downfall, both individually and collectively. And until we get back to having honesty and integrity be the norm, we will face further economic and social crises for certain. God help us, every one.