Where have all the passengers gone?
 

A philosopher once said, "As long as one has passengers to force them into civility no one individual will deviate from the collective system of politeness to disrupt the group."

If this is true and I think to some extent it is, what does it say about where we are today? Because transportation costs have plummeted since the introduction of the automobile, we are in some respects without fellow passengers. We drive to the same locations day after day with the same people driving next to us... thousands of cars all moving to relatively the same area- but segregated; each person travelling alone. Can this help explain road rage, why we are so uncivil to our fellow drivers? I don't know.

Communications have also become more accessible... especially the internet, mobile phones- coupled with decreasing prices it seems we are all more connected than ever before. But instead of person to person meetings we are now communicating over airwaves. Has it really brought us closer together after all? How has this phenomenon effected how we treat one another when we do meet face to face?

With the rise of two full-time working parents, children are not being taught the value of politeness, of patience, and sacrifice. Is civilty not merely sacrificing selfish behavior to appease others? I work in an area where I see out of control children running about every which way; screaming, misbehaving, talking back to their parents, generally being rude to anyone in their presence. Why is this the case?

Are we more rude to each other or is it just me? Are our tempers more quickly flared? Is civility on a downward spiral? Why do you think this is the case or isn't the case?

people day by day are getting more spoiled and ignorant of teh people oraund them.
its an age when "me" is more important than "they or you".
its like evry one in teh world is just a thing that block yer way of walking or dryving, something that just talks to u from time to time, u de-humanise people, once this happens "sivility" or "curtesy" arent the main things u consintrate on unless its inreference to our own selves.
kids left to fend for themselvs hold pain and anger inside wich reflects inderectly as they grow older, some learned to succed they need to nockdown any obstacles in their way , or not to count on others or care what they think or feel because in teh end they woudlnt care about u anyway etc..

this doesnt aply to evryone and , just one of the faces in thees days

Oops sorry, I forgot to include the demise of the English language.

yeah for those who where "born and raized" in the USA...:hang:
thanks for illustrating the civility issue..

Don't let it get you down, I mean no harm. :)

I agree with all your points above... at least the ones I can comprehend. If I may ask, what country are you from?

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, living in teh USA now

That (despite the poor spelling) pretty much sums it up right there. If people would just refrain from using up the space around me (I should be entitled to a 20 foot radius when walking, 200 foot radius when driving), I wouldn't mind them at all.