It's time to speak up on our core values

Because of the massive downward slide in society, I find myself wondering just when and how we reached the point where we find ourselves today.

As a product of the college environment in the 1960s, I know that many place the blame on that era when "free love," drugs and a counter-culture seeped into society.

Not knowing how to accept these changes, many at that time blamed the music or the anti-war movement, etc. Believe me, there was ample blame to throw around.

But I'm a big advocate of solving a problem first and then trying to determine the blame.

This societal shift however might well have no solution. Once you've gone down that road long enough and far enough, there is simply no turning back.

Regardless of how we reached this fork in the road, American's society by virtually any measure is on the decline.

OK, we've made unbelievable strides in medical care and technology. And those two elements alone have drastically, I assume, improved society - though quite honestly, some of the communication technology may actually be a setback, but that's another story for another day.

So here we find ourselves in 2014 with signs of social deterioration all around. And it's not simply legalizing marijuana and same-sex marriages. It goes much deeper than that.

The problem is that our core values have declined to the point where decent people throw up their hands, scratch their heads and watch somewhat helplessly as the world is turned upside down.

It's far too easy to blame politicians for this social mess. Granted, they are more often than not part of the problem and not the solution.

But someone, somewhere elected these idiots and so we only have ourselves to blame.

Many of our urban areas have turned into cesspools of social change that baffle the mind. Rural areas generally cling to more conventional and conservative views.

But folks, we're outnumbered. And the trend is clearly not in our direction.

Fast-forward to today and some put this social decline on violent video games or reality shows that play to the lowest common behavior or the Hollywood entertainment industry that is hell-bent on pushing their warped views and agenda.

We so desperately need a return to more traditional values. The problem with that premise unfortunately is that maybe our traditional values don't match the majority of Americans.

All I know is this: Talking about the decline gets us nowhere. We need to raise our voices against those who support this decline. And in a touch of irony, our elected Congressional representative supports traditional values. So we can't throw anyone out of office because we don't vote where they are located.

But just because we seem helpless to impact change, it should not stop us from expressing our views in whatever manner possible.

And regardless of your religious belief - or lack thereof - it's easy to see that today's American society runs counter to the values and beliefs and fundamental goodness and fairness that should be our foundation.

Sadly, that foundation is crumbling right before our very eyes.

I hope someday that history will show we are judged on our actions not our silence.