What Happened to Morals?

With the best possible outcome in mind, the concepts of honor and duty were integral in
creating governments both big and small that claim to operate by the people and for the
people. Successful as they might be in doing so, problems inevitably arise. The
problems are never ending and exist on a continuum. The government attempts to
represent its people through disasters, terrorist attacks, even problems as small as getting
into a car accident, or representing a citizen under the newly created laws of bioethics.
Ironically, the largest problem we face today is the smallest; the decline in moral values
and peoples inability to entrust these values to future generations. For such a small
intangible problem, the impact of an ideal or moral goes beyond vague concepts to create
monumental difficulties in how people live their lives and treat other people in society.
The decline of moral values may reach a point to which the problems it has created can
no longer be corrected by legislation and laws. Society is forcing the government to
create more laws to deal with the problems pertaining to the lack of moral values instead
of addressing the issue of instilling the proper moral values within each individual. The
lack of key morals such as honesty, honor, integrity, and perseverance, and the failure of
many members of prior generations to pass down those moral values, is contributing to
the degradation and downfall of society.
A moral is an internal value within each individual that determines what he or she
considers to be right or wrong. Moral judgment and behavior mold the lives of every
human being. Seen as a rational and cognitive process, each individual ultimately has the
decision to choose what is right from what is wrong (Figurski 1). Every individual then
has the choice to consciously create a unique sculpture of his or her life with morals
being the texture, shape, and color. These often overlooked past values determine the
course of actions an individual partakes in within his or her lifetime, and what their
sculpture will look like in the end. With unlimited colors, textures, and shapes available,
the sculptor creates an embodiment unlike no other and these features come to define the
person. Each persons idea of morals comes to define who he or she will ultimately
become and are unique to each person. Cruel, selfish, kind, honest, and affectionate are
just some adjectives that can define a person based on the morals, or lack of morals, they
have acted upon in their interactions with others. By acting with honesty, knowledge, and
hard work, one might obtain a prize or medal, honoring them.
On the contrary, a person who acts on things such as greed, laziness, and jealousy could
very well end up in jail. These morals are the foundation of which each person constructs
a life. While conducting personal surveys, a group of ten people were asked to define the
word moral. Covering a broad spectrum, the answers ranged from I dont know,
something important (Berge I. Interview) to The right thing to do or think, and being
aware of the consequences of your actions (Kupiec Interview). This supports the idea of
Christina Sommerss Moral Haze Theory that, although some people know what morals
are, there is a large group of people that does not: society is operating within a smog of
morals where no one has any consistency or depth to their process of decision making
(Sommers 1). In a burning house filled with smoke, it is difficult to determine a door
from a wall and everything is a blur. When comparing a moral haze to a burning building,

the morals would be the door (a good moral), and a wall (a bad moral), while the smoke
that fills the room is the haze. The smoke prevents a person from seeing the morals and,
by distorting ones vision, it inevitably hinders his or her ability to determine a door from
a wall. Although people have an idea of what is right and wrong, they have no idea of
where or how they come to these conclusions of what is right and which values make up
a moral and the decisions they ultimately make. When asked if she found it important for
the United States to uphold a basic moral standard, Amber McNeill, an aspiring forensic
psychologist, replied: Yes, because without morals people lose their way. That is where
you get murderers, criminals, and pedophiles (McNeill Interview). Miss McNeills
statement correlates with the comparison Sommers makes when looking at the methods
of the decision making process of a student when asked what a moral is, to that of the
decision making of a psychopath (Sommers 1).
Looking back to where morals come from, it is evident that morals come to define
themselves based on the upbringing of the individual through time and space (Miller 1).
Being exposed to a variety of experiences can broaden ones horizon creating an everexpanding open mind and better morals, but at the same time a void in experiences can
obstruct it. One of the most important influences of morals in a childs life is family
gatherings, relationships, and bonding. What happens at home can color the thinking of
an individual and alter their perception of events happening outside the home. A child
who grows up in a neglected household may be more susceptible to develop bad moral
values like greed, selfishness, and laziness due to the absence of guidance by parental
figures. Alternatively, children who grow up with love and affection are more likely to
adopt healthier moral values like honesty, honor, integrity, and perseverance. According
to an article about relationships and families, better family relationships can lead to
better grades in school, relationships in life, a higher self esteem, better language skills
when communicating, fewer eating disorders, better overall health and children are less
likely to use drugs (Herald Press 1). Families today are spending less time
communicating through important ways such as eating dinner together, game nights,
Sunday or Sabbath ceremonies. This crucial family time is when children and adolescents
learn to express themselves, practice healthy communication, and is also a time to learn
the morals by which their parents live. Not necessarily by the words that parents say, but
the actions they take; after all, actions do speak louder than words and can have far more
of an impact. The time a child spends in school can be very harsh and demanding. By
taking away family time, children have a harder time obtaining moral guidance. They are
left to figure out for themselves the meaning of morals, and a system on which to base
important decisions. For example, a child might be bullied at school to the point of tears
or even physically hurt. This experience may lead the child to decide that in order to feel
better about himself, he must become the bully and take advantage of another student.
This simple series of events can amass to the unfolding of a lifetime of disrespect to
others. Emotions like compassion are suppressed over the years and it becomes okay to
take advantage of someone else. The same actions go with cheating: a person who cheats
will continue to cheat throughout life. However the amount, it is still cheating and was
once learned at a young age.
In Ken Reids chapter in the book Bullying in Schools, Reid shows that bullies often

suffer from truancy, low self esteem, below average levels of intelligence, and are
brought up within large families with low income (Tattum & David 89). Without parents
providing a moral standard in the household, the doors to corruption, selfishness,
laziness, and greed open, exposing a child to a way of life that takes advantage of the
legal systems and other people. Without having a personal moral standard, there is no
telling what one is capable of doing, similar to how a chameleon can change colors and
manipulate the people around them to their advantage.
In Platos Divided Line Theory, Plato leans toward the idea that words and beliefs are the
most powerful form of things and images. He goes on to say that words and beliefs are
the ultimate Truth and are versions of what we perceive to be things and images. Humans
are incapable of dwelling with the ultimate True aspect of words and beliefs. Words and
beliefs, unlike mathematics and True knowledge, can be manipulated and used to create
images in ones head that appear to be real, but are actually false (McDonald). The lack
of honesty, integrity, perseverance, and failure to pass these moral values to subsequent
generations, is resulting in a moral haze in which the line between good and bad is
becoming fuzzy. Society is creating a generation of people that rely on their basic
instincts, rather than the cognitive decision making process based on moral judgment. In
an interview with Ruth Berge, she stated Consequences are no longer weighed and do
not act as a deterrent for inappropriate behavior. Consequences no longer have the same
stigma as thirty years ago (Berge, R. Interview).
A perfect example of this is the Enron Ponzi Scheme, which was revealed to the public
during the year 2000. High-ranking officials obtained the okay to use wishful thinking
to create bank statements of anticipated projected earnings instead of the actual earnings
of the company. These statements were images that professionals painted to seem as
factual and precise, when in reality, they were the exact opposite. This inaccurate picture
and manipulation of reality is what was speculated by Plato in his Divided Line Theory,
and essentially, what he came to fear. Considering what they perceived to be the Truth,
Americans from all social classes poured money into the firm. As money came in,
executives diverted the money to their own accounts and initial investors instead of
investing the funds into the firm. This created a Ponzi Scheme. To feed their luxurious
lifestyle, Enron officials needed new investors and the only way to do that would be by
failing to uphold any moral values. The lack of honesty and integrity fueled a duped
public to continue to invest in the scheme. New problems arose as power plants in
California experienced shut downs because there was no money to fund them; all the
money was being spent by selfish Enron executives. Enron is to greed like a fish is to
water; the two could not be separated. The firm began running out of money rather
quickly. To keep up the pretense of a financially healthy company, Enron started illegally
authorizing rolling black outs in the state of California in an attempt to divert more funds
to corrupt executives. The rolling black outs contributed to a climate in which wild fires
broke out taking innocent peoples homes and ruining lives. The documentary Enron:
The Smartest Guy in the Room, showed that brokers, as well as officials, knew what was
going on, but did not do anything to stop it because they would not make as much money
(Enron: The Smartest Guy in the Room). Neither the employees of Enron, nor the
officials, were acting with any moral code, but instead, they were acting out of

selfishness. After Enron declared bankruptcy, not only was the average Enron worker
affected as they lost retirement funds and their jobs, but millions of people were left
devastated and financially burdened as well. Some people who invested their life savings
were left with nothing and had to go back to work after having retired. This contributed to
the downfall of society because hardworking citizens were not rewarded for their
perseverance in planning for their retirement. Also, the influx of formerly retired workers
into the workforce lowered the amount of jobs available for Americas youth. Something
as minor as upholding and ad-hearing to a moral could have stopped this catastrophe, but
instead the absence of it literally helped fuel the fire.
The stigma of defying a moral is diminishing with each passing minute. A destructive
carelessness of the quality of life, that was once in the shadows of society, is now
creeping closer to everyday life. Somehow, Americans are under the impression that if
they do not care, their problems will go away. That is completely contrary to the truth; the
problems will just become worse. People are becoming extremely desensitized in many
areas of life. When asked what would have happened if she became pregnant as a
teenager, Margaret, who was a teenager in the fifties, replied the following I would have
been ostracized. Girls were sent to homes for unwed mothers to have babies in secrecy
(Margaret Interview). In 2011, the controversial show on television called Teen Mom,
shows average teenagers who are sixteen to eighteen years of age that are teenage
mothers (Teen Mom). Instead of having a stigma attached to the idea of teen
pregnancy, these teens are idolized and even given money for participating on a reality
television show. Still in high school and unable to live independently, most of the Teen
Moms, with their children, live with their parents. In Faust, a play written by Johann
Wolfgang Von Goethe, the main character, Faust, commits adultery with Gretchen, a
woman in the town. Gretchen has a baby out of wedlock and becomes shunned by the
town. With no place to go, and no way of staying warm in winter, Gretchens baby
freezes to death. Shortly after, the townspeople burn her at the stake for partaking in
premarital sex (Faust, Parts 1 & 2 Summary). From the 16th century up until just
recently, a high stigma has been attached to teen pregnancy. It is now becoming
exceedingly acceptable and the honor of staying pure until marriage is no longer a
highly valued moral standard. This is contributing to the degradation of society by
leading to more children being brought up in homes without the full moral guidance of
strong parental figures do to the idea that the parents are still growing up themselves.
Also, it is more likely that these children will not have the financial advantages of two
working parents. The difficulty of obtaining higher education for a teen mother is often
insurmountable. In addition, there is a fear that the large salaries paid to the stars of Teen
Mom is tempting other young girls to get pregnant simply for a chance to be on the show
(Phil 1).
The implosion of society upon itself is happening one day at a time with each moral one
forgets or chooses to remain oblivious. The government is working to fix the problems
that the lack of morals has created, but is seeing little success. Instead of acting, America
is reacting; the problem is morals and that more and more people fail live their lives
based on a moral code. Dangerous and urgent, it is time to take care of this problem on a
personal level. Each and every day, hatred for the government is growing and a sense of

chaos is filling the air. Instead of taking responsibility for ones self, collectively people
are acting against their better morals of honor, integrity, honesty, and perseverance, and
are becoming selfish, greedy, and lazy. In wondering why the world is becoming such an
unfriendly place, people are becoming aware of the consequences of no morals but refuse
to accept that as a problem and take the responsibility of adopting a proper moral code for
themselves. Society will not be able to survive if its people are not willing to do the work
and live up to a moral standard, as well as teaching it to their children. People are living
beyond their means when they do not have the money; taxes are being spent on things
they should not; corruption is saturating leadership positions; drug addiction and
alcoholism is running rampant; big businesses are more of a priority than the small
business man; churches are losing members and closing in areas where they are needed
most; there are barley any more checks and balances within the government; America is
now battling in three countries, which the country is funding on credit; America is
spiraling downward on same train Rome did (Premise 1). Instead of spending the
resources to better ourselves as a nation, the lack of morals is pushing people to utilize
these resources to succumb to instant gratification and buy approval. Instead of living
from in to out, we are living from out to in with everyone elses opinion dictating our
choices and actions. It is no wonder problems not only exist, but continue to get worse.
As a nation, we are becoming numb and constantly looking for outside gratification.
A nation once founded on truth, knowledge, freedom, honor, and hard work, the United
States now appears to be abandoning those roots. Instead of learning from nations that
have fallen before, the American people choose to remain oblivious. By previous
generations failing to pass down proper morals, Americans are beginning to act with a
lack of moral values, which is even more dangerous. Although the government is trying
to fix the problems the United States is experiencing, it is impossible to do it through the
government alone. Some of the problems that the government is trying to fix are directly
affected by and caused by the lack of moral values and failure of American citizens to
pass down those moral values. The lack of moral values is slowly becoming more
acceptable in society, and the problems are only growing bigger, which will ultimately
contribute to the downfall of society. Families are no longer acting as the base for a child
to learn and grow. Large portions of the American population either cannot or will not act
with honor, integrity, and honesty, and has become too lazy too persevere over
difficulties. In order for the United States to become the super power it once was, it is
time to stop being oblivious, and directly face the problems of the lack of moral
judgment. Gandhi once said, to fix the world, we first must fix ourselves.