Is America becoming a meaner place?

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060222/wl_nm/life_australia_elderly_dc;_ylt=Ap8hvgMjJ7spC12jlvRb4WVvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
This certainly can't be answered with a simple yes or no but I was reading this article and thought of us--the US--and wondered if this could be applied to us. Our gov. is certainly a lot more divisive-- and wonder if can be be trickled down to all of us--in general.
I think so--but certainly not as causal aa this article implies.\


Lonely deaths of elderly shock Australia

By Michael Perry Wed Feb 22, 12:56 AM ET

........Sydney's radio bristled on Tuesday with discussion on whether the city of four million people had become mean spirited.

A newspaper survey this week found half of Australians feel their country has become a meaner place in the past 10 years since Prime Minister John Howard first came to power in 1996.

The Sydney Morning Herald survey also found that one in 10 people felt Australia was a "less fair society."

The survey found the overwhelming majority supported Howard's economic stewardship, with Australia enjoying 15 years of growth, and his stand against terrorism, but 55 percent of people regarded the prime minister as divisive...........

[AspenRose]

1. In a word - Yep.

You can count on it anytime a neocon is in power.

People get selfish and only are concerned with themselves and to hell with everyone else.

[Art_from_Ark]

2. You said it

Neocon = mean spirited

[Golden Raisin]

11. BIG yes!

Except for all the beautiful "christians" like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell who do nothing but spread love, peace and good will 24/7.

[genie_weenie]

3. No America's always been mean

if you don't have the green...

[SeattleGirl]

4. I believe it has, since Chimpy was selected.

And he and his cabal, and the right wing whacko talking heads are egging the whole meaness thing on.

[hyphenate]

5. We passed "meaner" a long time ago

Hateful, nasty, apathetic, dysfunctional, bigoted, intolerant, criminally negligent, insane, selfish, etc. -- and these are just the members of our current administration!!

Most people are pretty much these things as well. It's becoming a society (again) of the haves and have-nots, as it was in France when the nobility ran things. Of course, they had their revolution and beheaded most of the nobility, but we don't have that option, unfortunately.

[QC]

6. Yep, and I think it started with Reagan.

That's when we resumed openly worshiping wealth, after several decades of at least paying lip service to equity.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. It started turning mean during the Reagan administration

That's when I began noticing a lot of pointless public hostility, such as snarky bumper stickers and T-shirts, and in-yer-face rude behavior.

[Southsideirish]

10. I was going to say the same thing. He brought hatred and bigotry out into

daylight - thus making it ok for all of "us" to do the same. Its always there but for the good of society it must be kept under wraps.

[leftofthedial]

8. poorer and poorer

which means meaner and meaner

as long as we're not all "in this together"

[ladjf]

9. Most definitely. Raging narcissism.