"The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect to their elders.... They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and are tyrants over their teachers."

Naturally, one would assume that this person was speaking of America...but that is impossible. In this quote, Aristotle was speaking of the youth of his time. Funny how things haven't changed?

Let me suggest something: it is often easy for "progress" to mask cycle. What I mean is, just because our country (and media) is heading down a path doesn't mean that it's right and good. America (AKA, "The Leader of the Free World") may actually just be experiencing the back end of a cycle that many other world powers have already withgone.

In Harvard Sociologist Carle C. Zimmerman's 1947 book, Family and Civilization, he presented a list of symptoms for a declining nation. (Remember that this was long before the US went through many changes in the following decades.) Zimmerman took a close look at other centuries' world powers like the Roman Empire, Greece, France and Germany. From observing cultural changes, he determined some consistent factors that appeared in all of their declines. Since Zimmerman was purely a historian and an expert in the sociology of a family, I find this list fascinating and unbiased from a religious or political standpoint. It is hard, however, to not see America bleed through this list. Just take a glance at any current entertainment magazine or newspaper and compare it to this:

Marriage lost its sacredness; it was frequently broken by divorce.

Traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony was lost. Alternate forms and definitions of marriage arose, and traditional marriage vows were replaced by individual marriage contracts.

Feminist movements appeared, and women lost interest in child bearing and mothering, preferring to pursue power and influence. (Disclaimer: Understanding that this list was written during the post WWII 1940s, this point may be driven by that particular time period. I interpret this to mean a complete value transfer from child bearing and mothering to pursuit of power and influence. I am not trying to make a statement about gender equality here. Personally I believe that raising children is far more valuable than any career or pursuit of power and influence. Also, please remember that this is a list of symptoms and not causes of a declining nation.)

Public disrespect for parents and authority in general increased.

Juvenile delinquency, promiscuity, and rebellion accelerated.

People with traditional marriages refused to accept family responsibilities.

Desire for and acceptance of adultery grew.

Increased tolerance for sexual perversions of all kinds, particularly homosexuality, with a resultant increase in sex-related crimes.