I fear our society is too damaged to repair
I am old enough to remember that it was a good thing to tolerate the other side of politics, even when you didn't agree.
I am old enough to remember when people taught their children to be kind.
I am old enough to remember that if you wanted respect, you extended respect to others.
I am old enough to remember that people apologized when they said or did something thoughtless.
I am old enough to remember when people tried not to purposely offend others in their daily lives.
I am old enough to remember when society was just that - a society. A group who shared this planet.
I am old enough to remember it wasn't cool to be an asshole for the sake of being an asshole.
I am old enough to remember when people respected others instead of making childish jabs at them just because they can.
I am old enough to remember when adults mostly acted with maturity around children instead of acting at their level.
I am old enough to remember when people strived to be positive role models for others.
I am old enough to remember what unselfishness is.
I am old enough to remember what kindness is.
I am old enough to remember what respect is.
I am old enough to remember what integrity is.
I'm not old enough to feel like I belong to some ancient out-of-touch generation because I value respect and tolerance and kindness and I try not to be an asshole. I am 60, not 100 years old. It wasn't that long ago when people were decent and kind just because it's the right thing to do.
= new reply since forum marked as read
you sure showed him
✌🏻
Haven't heard that before. Very funny.
…when a Republican Governor could actually make me proud to be an Iowan.
snip——
In October 1979 Governor Ray and five other governors went on a trip to China. Organized by the Council for U.S. China Relations and the State Department, it was part of the effort to normalize relations with China. But Southeast Asia got on the agenda when the governors added a side trip to several refugee camps in Thailand.
At one of the camps Iowa’s and Governor Ray’s reputation preceded him and First Lady Billie Ray. Governor Ray recalled, “We walked in this little place—as I recall looked almost like a log cabin and there, inside, there on a wall was this Department of Transportation map from the state of Iowa. It had little pins where people had been resettled in the state of Iowa.”
snip——
https://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/mypath/2687/robert-d-ray-iowa-governor-humanitarian-leader
I remember going to a water park in Virginia in the 80's where despite the law they wouldn't let people with dark skin in...my racist old aunt said it was good I was a blonde because with my tan they would let me in haha... yeah right the nasty old bag.
I remember when my mother's friend was beaten by her husband and the cops wouldn't even come.
I remember learning what it meant to die because my older sister's friends lost their brothers in Vietnam
I remember being a complete brat to my parents and not respectful at all.
I remember having a boss put his hands down my pants and when I complained, I was told he was a producer and I was a secretary (one of the reasons I went back to college) and I would be fired if I couldn't "get along".
I remember being raped and spending a couple of weeks in the hospital because I was pretty badly injured and my parents told their friends I was in a car accident. There was no prosecution because I went to a bar with my girlfriends. Just asking for it don't you know 
I remember my Analytical Chemistry professor telling me I should drop his class as there were men with families who needed my seat. At the time I was a single mother supporting myself and going to school.
You get the picture. There has never been a utopia and there never will be. But we must strive to improve our situations and that of others.
I know it is something that you will probably never completely get over, and I am both angered at the injustice done toward you and saddened that it was something you ever had to endure. 
... many of us can say that we had great, loving, wonderful parents who taught their children right. We were their children and we learned to take responsibility, we learned to be considerate, to do our household chores, to get our homework done before watching TV. We were told to treat people with kindness and that's how they would treat us. We learned by our parents' example that if we worked hard and studied hard, we'd get ahead.
Somehow there was a disconnect ... because today's parents aren't teaching their kids those same things. Today's parents may not even understand how they should behave, and many aren't setting a good example for their kids. Where did the disconnect happen? I don't know. It might have been us, maybe we Boomers grew up to become not-so-great parents. Now our kids are the parents and they're completely lost, so it seems.
Or are you just going to give up?
