#1: Introduction

Hello, and thank you for stopping by.

I have created this weblog primarily to give myself a place to vent my frustrations with the world, as the levels of respect for each other - as nations, as communities, and as human beings - continues to plummet.

Secondarily, this blog exists so that any readers who happen by can also express their thoughts, concerns, and suggestions for how we can realistically change things for the better.

Ultimately, it is my hope that you are reading the electronic document that will ultimately save the world.

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My name is Mike, I live in the northeastern portion of the United States. Much of my writing contains a flair for either the satirical or the sarcastic. I believe it's easy to tell the difference, but I hope it is clear to you whether my statement is literal or if it's humorously twisted to make a point. I also have a tendency to use parentheses.

That said, it my observation that the world's main problem (and particularly this nation) is that very few people respect those whom they don't already know (and sometimes not even then).

People are far more quick to anger than they were even 20 years ago. They've forgotten how to lose, if they ever even knew in the first place. This applies to arguments, sporting events, getting cut off in traffic...

It seems that virtually every disappointment an individual suffers is a grievous affront that most be avenged.

Why has it come to this?

My thoughts on this are far from solid, but they're organized in three categories (and I'm serious about all of them, by the way).

Things that are not responsible: movies/TV, video games, the internet, porn, President Barack Obama

Things that may or may not be responsible, in whole or in part: religion (or lack thereof), celebrity influence, air conditioning (seriously)

Things that strongly contribute to the downward spiral: A genuine sense of entitlement, disregard for authority (see: sense of entitlement), an inconstant series of consequences, lowered standards


What do you think?

To begin, comments will be not be moderated. However, if trolling ensues, or if people START SHOUTING (instead please use -this method- as a way to stress a point, you know...with the dashes), I will begin moderating and/or deleting comments.

I do not like censorship. When politicians talk about censoring the internet, etc, I am far less inclined to vote for them.

Still, as the point of this blog is to promote respect, comments seen as crossing the line from "disagreement" to "disrespectful" are not welcomed.

If something you read here offends you or otherwise evokes strong feelings, think of your response as an exercise in composure. Yelling, swearing and similar behavior generally weakens an argument, anyway.

We're not all going to agree. Some people will disagree more often than not.

And that's the way it should be.