Friday, April 9, 2010

Is the World a Dangerous Place?

I think we've had a decrease in the general level of manners in our "modern" society. Some might say this is good, that it reflects more honesty. I don't think it is good. And I don't think it reflects more honesty. In the fifties, when TV was young and I was just growing up, the shows we saw often seem antiquated today. Today shows are often more brutal and more graphic. Take, for instance, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. It focuses on victims of rape, abuse, child molestation. It pictures a world that is brutal and dangerous. But if you look around at your life, there is more calm than brutality. (And if there isn't, then maybe something is wrong with the picture.)

I myself believe in a sort of Karma. We used to say "Do onto others what you would have them do unto you." Later it became fashionable to mock that attitude with "Do unto others before they do unto you." But manners have a great deal to do with treating others the way you want to be treated. And, interestingly enough, it calms the waters.

You can be a force for good just by being a cheerful, caring person.
In the essay on "The Dangerous Environment" L. Ron Hubbard says more eloquently what I've been trying to say here. I recommend it.

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