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Hoppe asks: Is our shifted morality a problem?

Posted on Nov 23, 2009 in Features

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A couple of years ago I read a book title “The Rape of the A.P.E. (*American *Puritanical *Ethic): The Official History of the Sex Revolution; Obscening of America” by Allan Sherman. It’s a fantastic read, if you’re interested: well written, incredibly interesting, very informative and provocative, but not vulgar.

The book jumps back and forth from a timeline of events from the founding of the American colonies to the 1970s, when the book was published. It also highlights a fictional story of an immortal man named Sap (homoSAPian) who progresses through the ages attempting the fulfill his seven desires and adhere to the ever-changing world around him, outlining the absurdities in the evolution society and culture.

Sherman had seen the brunt of the movement unfold before him during his lifetime and believed it to be a wonderful thing. He wrote about his hope for American culture and its gradual change to a more socially open state.

I would say that his hope has come true beyond his wildest dreams. Things have undoubtedly changed, even in the last several years. The greatest transformations can be seen in social interaction and mainstream media.

Conditions and constructs that, even in the 1970s, were obscene and taboo are now practiced openly and regularly.
The institution of marriage, for instance, has dwindled significantly, not only with the recent spur in marriages among homosexual couples, but also the importance of some kind of civil union before a couple lives under the same roof, the precept here being that premarital sex is implied. In the time of “Leave it to Beaver,” this was almost unheard of. Even if it occurred, it was not spoken of publicly without reproach.

I read somewhere that pornography makes up 80 percent of the Internet. 80 percent! When the Internet is viewed as a whole, that number is astounding.

If I Google “Bissell Vacuum Cleaners” it turns up with 130,000 results; the term “Naked” responds with 12 million. And the majority of these sites are totally accessible to anyone who has the ability to click a mouse. It is likely that there are trillions of images available, ranging from the most modest of “art forms” to disgusting, derogatory varieties that would make most people physically sick.

MTV, HBO, “Freddy and Jason,” “The Man Show”; violence and sexuality for the couch potato. I personally have seen a transition, even in the last year, of the subject matter of pop music.

Not to single out hip-hop, but it seems that the majority of contemporary hits are about promiscuous sex with random individuals in a darkened dance club.

This is a far cry from “Lollipop” recorded by the Chordettes in 1958 or even the works of Grandmaster Flash and Spoonie Gee of the early hip-hop movement.

The violence and gore on television has increased considerably as well as curse words and slang that made people cringe just a few years ago.

What do you think about all of this? Most would say that it is horrific, a decline in morality, a terrible product of bad parenting, or the advancement of technology, or failure of public schools, or the secularization of America.

Still others, including myself, would call less of a decline and more of a change in mass-morality. The New York Times called it “The New Morality” in an aptly-titled article appearing in a November 1977 edition.

The facts are not in yet; we have yet to determine if this lifestyle is less productive or efficient or if those who adhere to it are less content. All that we can say is that things are different, not worse.

What happens when there is nothing left that is shocking? Do we find or create new things? Do we have the ability to do so? Is a desensitized world a bad thing? Why? Are we available for desensitization?

I have yet to find a solution to my problem with the shift (or decline) in morality or an answer at the end of our hypothetical rope, as it were. So, my friends, I come to you in question.

Looking for, at the very least, intuitive discussion and at the most; to shed some light on what is to become my stance on the matter. Send me an e-mail: ihop@rayengineering.com.

Email: ihop@rayengineering.com 




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