A Feral Generation

When there are no rules, there is no conception of good versus evil.

From the linked article at the American Spectator:

“Raised by their devices and peers and educated not in the school of virtue but of virality, most of them are in their late teens to early twenties. Anybody living in our nation’s largest cities has become acquainted with these kids in recent years — from the teen takeovers in Chicago and illegal house parties in Nashville to the drag racing in Florida and the storming of malls in California. These kids have reached the age of majority, and they have been sicced on the world.”

I have been thinking the same thing – and feral is a good word to describe it.

One wonders if the youngsters and college miseducated adults have any real concept of good versus evil and how to tell them apart. When the young skulls filled with mush aren't properly processed into functioning beings who know the rules of civil society (because the rules taught to them), bad things are bound to happen.

In a civilized society, social mores serve as a framework for self-regulation and governance. Pronounced “morays,” these mores are the traditional customs and moral attitudes internalized by individuals within a social group, reflecting a shared understanding of right and wrong. They guide behavior and foster cohesion and mutual respect.

In contrast, taboos represent actions vehemently prohibited due to their perceived sacredness or accursedness, often carrying the weight of supernatural or societal punishment. Historically, taboos have acted as cultural guardrails, preserving societal norms. Yet, today, there is a palpable sense that these mores and taboos are under siege, with actions once deemed unthinkable gaining visibility and, in some cases, acceptance.

Daily news cycles highlight behaviors that challenge the fabric of American society. Examples include high school teachers engaging in sexual relationships with underage students, college coaches and priests abusing children, and groups like the National Man-Boy Love Association advocating for the normalization of pedophilia. Other instances, such as a college student producing pornography or running an OnlyFans page to fund tuition and framing it as empowerment, or the mainstreaming of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender lifestyles, further illustrate the erosion of traditional taboos.

Politics, as many observe, follows culture. If government mirrors cultural shifts, the institutionalization of once-taboo behaviors through legal protections complicates societal self-correction. In a free society, peer pressure and intergenerational transmission of values typically counteract behaviors deemed harmful. However, when laws enshrine acceptance of these behaviors, they undermine the majority’s ability to opt out voluntarily, embedding them into the cultural foundation of future generations.

This dynamic risks cultural decay. Governments, by codifying such changes, act as a one-way lock, preventing society from reclaiming lost moral ground. Historian Edward Gibbon, in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (first published in 1776, coinciding with America’s Declaration of Independence), identified five markers of Rome’s cultural decline: obsession with displaying affluence over building wealth, fixation on sex and its perversions, sensationalistic art, growing wealth disparities, and reliance on state welfare. The parallels to modern Western societies are striking and undeniable.

History is unforgiving, punishing those who ignore its lessons. While some may believe modern societies are immune to historical cycles, thousands of years of recorded history suggest otherwise. Freedom does not grant license to indulge every impulse. True liberty, as envisioned in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, is the ability to act, speak, and think freely within a society unburdened by oppressive restrictions. Yet, liberty hinges on a moral foundation to prevent corruption.

Edmund Burke warned, “Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist.” The Romans learned this the hard way, as their empire crumbled under the weight of moral and cultural decay. Today, the United States faces similar risks. The normalization of behaviors once considered taboo, coupled with their legal entrenchment, threatens the liberty future generations might inherit.

To preserve liberty, society must maintain a moral basis for governance and behavior. This does not mean stifling individual freedoms but fostering a culture where self-regulation and mutual respect prevail. Without such a foundation, the descent into corruption becomes inevitable, and with it, the erosion of the very liberties that define a free society. History’s warnings are clear - ignoring them invites a fate akin to that of Rome.