Americans getting softer? What’s your opinion?

[jjp8182]

I think it's both yes and no ....in that some of the toughest are becoming tougher, while others are getting softer (both physically and mentally).

On the tougher side, the availability of high nutrition foods and focused weight training has permitted those who chose to do so to achieve feats that were nearly unimaginable 50 years ago. .... and that's come with increasing number of life-long injuries as well. When I graduated high school at the turn of the current century there were more than a few of my classmates that had pushed their sports particpation and training to the point they would never again be able to play the sports they had - and a few had already had joint replacement surgeries.

One of the coaches we had pointed out one time that the high school weight room was far better furnished than the college university where he played in the 70's(?) (and it wasn't a small university program).

Personally I chose to (mostly) stop competing & training in college, because if it came to a choice between play a game and being able to walk unassisted for the rest of my life I'm going to chose walking (though not all do given the lure of $$$$$ in sports).

So those who chose to can become far stronger, faster, & tougher physically than prior generations. ....however, in most cases it's going to be a deliberate choice.

Now when it comes to mental toughness, I'd say it's the same situation ... the toughest are tougher and the softies are much softer. Given how horribly broken some parts of the nation are, when someone makes it out of a troubled area and becomes successful it's likely because they persevered & overcame a lot of temptation -- or even threats on their life (in the case of gangs).

Then of course there are those who choose to serve in armed services, while decreasing as a percentage of the population anyone who joined in 2001 could (if they stayed) now be retiring with ~20 years of service that may have been largely served in combat. 4 years (most/all of WW2) vs. a potential 20? Wars fought with mappable battle fronts vs. an insurgency? I know which I'd consider tougher.

No, I think that the divide between the extremes in society is becoming more extreme rather than a singular trend toward softness. In large part it's likely driven by technology that permits fewer to do more (and more easily), and permits the rest to live a life without ever really learning or understanding what it takes to support their life. ..... and sooner or later I think that divide is going to completly rip this country apart as the different groups become incapable of civilly communicating with each other given the drastic difference in each groups understanding of "reality".

From what I've seen if a person is too insulated from what it takes to survive away from the luxuries of society there's a good chance society as a construct will start to be taken for granted, and not valued for all that it provides.

...but that's just my opinion which may not be worth much; because in the end whatever the reality is, it doesn't really care about human opinions since it is what it is and it's not controlled by humans.

 

[dadiehl]

Mental toughness is gone. I retired from the State Police. The younger kids think nothing of coming in late by 15-20 minutes! I came in 1 hour early. They have no mental toughness and to compensate piss all over the general public. They can’t talk to anyone. Best part of that job was pulling over and chatting with the locals. I am now an SRO for a local school district. Our intermediate school (4,5,6 grade) has a mental health/ quiet room for the teachers if a child has them swinging from the chandeliers. My dad was a high school teacher. Trust me he had no quiet room. My dad always said to the kids his first day of a new year I don’t get ulcers.. I give um! Kids loved him.

 

[Hay Dude]

I don't blame the young people for that. I blame the 'educational' system and the media.

Most of those young people only know what they're told and the people telling them are despicable.

Sorry, but it's the troof.

I saw it coming 50 years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a flag-waver. I believe in our Country, in our Founding Documents but I do not believe in War. Neither did our Founding Fathers. They hated it with a passion. They hated a Standing Army. I hate Wars designed for certain people to make money at the expense of our troops. Then, when they've made as much money as they can, they desert the people they were supposed to be fighting for.

One side is no better than the other when it comes to that these days. Nixon tried to do the right thing and he was run out of Office by the Media-*******-Industrial Complex. That's what it was all about. Not that Nixon was a butt-head. He was but he was no worse than his predecessors. It was about a power grab.

Whatever. There's nothing we can do about it anymore. America is dying and certain elements are just trying to pick at her carcass while others want to stand on her corpse trying to grab power. They don't care who they rule over, they just want to rule. It's about the ruling class these days, not We The People. Been that while for a while.

It's over. It was fun while it lasted but America is done.

Yeah sure I agree. I think the Education system and the media both did the country in, too! Im very outspoken about how they have ruined this nation and won’t stop until it is destroyed.
Continually telling our youth that our nation isn’t worth living in, what do you expect? Who would fight/die for that.
Fortunately, we still have enough parents & guardians to re-educate our youth about the good things still in this country. The opportunity and the freedoms we still have.
I thought there was a slight revival of those feelings, but that was called “racist” and ”nationalist”.
Many other countries were scarred by the mistake of slavery, but seem to have gotten over it or past it. For some reason, the sin slavery seems to be something being used to destroy us forever. Teach it, dont forget it, do what you have to do, but ruin the whole country over the past sin of slavery? 330 million people? Really?

 

[Hay Dude]

Tell that to our oldest son who pulled 6 deployments? or his younger brother who pulled only two? -that their version of war wasn't real... No, they were not gone until nearly my 4th birthday like my Dad in WWII but they missed much of life during those shorter deployments-I find that whole senario of real war vs. not so much a poor argument.
The railroads were built mostly by a combo of slaves/ex-slaves and Chinese/Mexican labor-they paid with their lives in many cases. Cabins-more like pissy tents?
Farming was obviously more labor intensive and fewer fat bellied farmers no doubt.

I didn’t say ALL. I said most have gone soft. Appreciate and honor your families sacrifice. The railroads were not mostly built by slaves. Some were, but in my area, they were mostly built by Irish immigrants. Many railroads built by Asians. One of my relatives was one of them and retired a railroad worker. Northern railroads probably rarely built by slaves, since slavery wasn’t widely accepted in northern states.

 

[goeduck]

Interesting to me on ”conquering” is in the many history classes I took, I learned all about Spaniards, Italians, Portuguese, Greek, Roman, etc. conquerors, but almost nothing about the Moors and the conquering they did. I had no idea of the vast territories they conquered….
Why are the Moors largely left out of the ”conquering“ parts of history?

Yep. The Moors from Africa conquered Spain if I recall correctly.

 

[Hay Dude]

I thought they conquered most of Italy/Sicily, too.

 

[Doughknob]

America has not gone soft. We may appear that way as we relish our prosperity and pursue the frontier of the digital revolution. But appearances can be deceiving..... as others have learned in the past.

 

[tibadoe]

Has America gone soft? YES, in my opinion. There are many examples of this and few of how we are getting tougher.

In my opinion - kinda.

 

[kantuckid]

I didn’t say ALL. I said most have gone soft. Appreciate and honor your families sacrifice. The railroads were not mostly built by slaves. Some were, but in my area, they were mostly built by Irish immigrants. Many railroads built by Asians. One of my relatives was one of them and retired a railroad worker. Northern railroads probably rarely built by slaves, since slavery wasn’t widely accepted in northern states.

I get your comments on RR's. I was a history major long ways back and still read it. No doubt people are soft to a large degree-not in my family-we study hard, play hard, etc.. My adult sons all ride bicycles, run, etc.. Me, I'm past that stuff had both hips replaced shoulder wired together and a knee soon ripe for replacement but I'm trying hard to wear it all out before I go! I/we stil;l ride mtn bikes in our 70's, I/we live on land, sawmill, build stuff, large woodshop and so on. One of my favorite hobbies is hiking which has become harder recently as my knee is nasty.

 

[mwemaxxowner]

I think it's obvious that, as a whole, we're getting softer.

I think the elite athletes are for sure getting more capable, but due to resources and science.

I played sports through school, and have continued to dabble in running and obstacle course racing as an adult. I see lots of older people out on the courses grinding. I swear I don't see as many younger folks grit their teeth and push when it gets hard.

I helped coach football and track some a few years back on a volunteer basis, and oh my goodness the kids are soft. They shut down and quit over nothing. You can't be stern with them, you can't punish them, can't make them WORK, etc.

My wife is an elementary teacher and she sees the same sorts of things in the classroom. They won't do blah blah because momma says they don't have to and you can't make them!

They have no DRIVE, no DESIRE, and no PUSH.