To what extent has the notion of self-mastery of basic virtues vanished from

[malaise]

our value system.
How does a teenager blow most of the money placed in his account by error?
How do politicians and their goons lock down a bridge for political vindictiveness or block the registration of voters?
Whatever happened to basic virtues required for a civilized society- honesty, self-discipline, time-management, integrity, respect for others, self-control, etc.
Greed, avarice, win by any means necessary, crass commercialism, self-indulgence and , individualism over community in the name of wealth and power have replaced everything we once deemed important.

[panader0]

1. Both sides are always with us.

An Indian parable:
A grandfather told his grandson, "My son there is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, integrity, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth."

The boy thought for a moment, then asked, "Grandfather, which one wins?"

The old man queitly replied, "the one you feed."

[malaise]

3. Well that's profound because

leaders in most spheres, the media and what appears to be valued most these days are greed and power - that is the one being fed so why would an eighteen year old not understand that he's just another thief.

[CFLDem]

8. Wow

That was pretty awesome.

[Sheldon Cooper]

2. I really don't think any of this is new behavior.

I think we're more aware of things happening, like the kid who spent all the money mistakenly put into his account, due to the internet. As far as politics, there have always been goons in high places.

It's a constant struggle between the forces of good and evil and always has been.

[malaise]

5. I think people are more exposed to the hypocrisy of leaders today

as a result of technology and think they can get away with criminality as well.

[randome]

4. The greater our population, the greater the competitition for resources, including money.

Greed is 'encouraged' by over-competition.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]The truth doesn’t always set you free.
Sometimes it builds a bigger cage around the one you’re already in.[/center][/font][hr]

[tk2kewl]

6. Reagan happened... Greed is Good!

[ljm2002]

7. There are many factors, of course...

...but the first thing that springs to my mind is the Ayn Rand philosophy that has been injected into our culture and spread like a poisonous virus.

I used to think it was a small percentage of people who bought into it, and I'm sure that is true, at least as far as people consciously buying into it. But what made me realize it is much more deeply embedded was when I found out that Alan Greenspan was not only a believer in that philosophy, but had been one of her acolytes and literally studied at her feet, it made me realize that the power players were invested heavily in that ideology.

Again, not trying to sound all paranoid or trying to oversimplify. There are many factors at play. But that philosophy is so utterly toxic, and it is so well accepted by powerful contingents in Washington, that it has allowed people to glorify all the things you cite in your last paragraph. The people who win using this philosophy then sit atop their pile and say "If you were as good as me, you'd be up here too; since you're not, you're just a POS who deserves nothing."