Unwelcomed Changes

I have lived in this State all my life and am so dissapointed with the changes that I see. Even here in my own city, in my own nice, safe, neighborhood. My husband recently got ripped off. Around seven thousand dollars worth of equipment stolen from our cellar. He worked like a dog with overtime and working 7 days a week when he had a job, to aquire these things. That week in the newspaper, it spoke of a rash of thefts, some in broad daylight. One person spoke of their air conditioner being taken right out of the window so the thief could gain access.

A couple of beautiful parks now have graffiti. People have been trying to rob banks. One old woman who was walking up the steps of a church had her purse snatched right from her. She had 500.00 in her purse and was crying. This angers me. Things have never been this bad.

It seems to be happening in many places. My family moved from one home because gangs took to roaming the alley whenever there would be an event at the nearby park. Then we moved again recently, in part because of destructively rowdy children and a pot-smoking, gangsta rap-singing neighbour.

I don't know if this is happening all over this country, but I think it has something to do with the "nastification" of America. In other words, American society is becoming nastier, and nastier, and nastier. And part of this nastiness is a seething contempt for others (often thanks to the filth spewed by various hate mongers of all stripes), a contempt that all too often results in crime.

The industrial revolution has alot to answer for...it created the haves and the havenots....I think this is the result of a value system based on illusion. Here in my tiny little country town in rural Australia, our cemetery is constantly graffittied and desecrated - not by any satanic sect. No, by primary school children. Kids under the age of 13...I was heartened to see an open letter in our local newspaper from an 11 yo girl begging whoever is responsible to stop because it was affecting her by dishonouring the memory of her grandmother whenever she went to visit her grave, and giving kids in the town a bad name. The problem is kids here feel like there is nothing for them to do because they are brought up with values of money being needed to go places and do things rather than being taught simple pleasures that don't require money. Boredom breeds when their values lead them to the conclusion that there is 'nothing to do' in this country town as opposed to the stimulating environment of the city with it's cinemas and games arcades and shopping centers.

I hear what you are saying Night, honey and it must be incredibly disheartening for both you and your husband not to mention the violation you must feel at having your home broken in to and perhaps even the security issues it raises. Harder still to see the way a town you have lived in for a long time becoming so unsafe and unsavoury. I grew up in a small beachside town not far from where I now live. Today, that place has a population of over 50 000 people and high rise and I don't even recognise it as the place I came from anymore. My mother owns a house in a quieter part of town and even there she is prone to vandalism. The nursing home over the back from where she is has security doors and still it gets robbed. It is a sad vignette of what society has become.