Society is getting worse.

Before I begin I just want to say hi and good luck in this round. I will begin this round by saying that I doubt clarification is really required for this debate, but I welcome any clarification by my opponent if it is deemed necessary. I will refute it in my next speech, however, if I see it completely bias and unfair. I just want to say one more thing before the actual debating begins and that would be that we should be debating society as a whole. If we are to make this the best possible debate, we should be looking at the general view rather than every single circumstance or just one circumstance. (I guess that is sort of a point of clarification, but oh well) Now on to the argumentation. 1) People are slowly becoming more rude (or ruder, I'm not really sure what proper English would be there) I live in one of the few exceptions left in this world, South Dakota. I've traveled to California, Texas and Washington DC and I still have not found a well-mannered cashier. A well-mannered employee should say thank you, have a nice day, or something along those lines. The closest thing I got was a come again in a snobbish tone. Not to mention the cashier, who when I walked off without getting my change, set it on the counter and began with the next customer. A cashier from South Dakota would run after you and say, "sorry sir, but you forgot this." People from earlier this century were also much more polite and unselfish. Therefore, society's manners are getting worse. 2) Entertainment is also going downhill I have two points on this, television and movies... a. Between reality shows and Sponge Bob Square Pants, our ability to entertain ourselves has grown easier over the years. In older shows, for example, Home Improvement, Full House, the George Lopez Show or the Bob Newhart Show, the plot was funny without being considered "mindless entertainment." b. Next to the mindless entertainment of television, pretty much the same comes from movies. Looking at the classics, Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz (not necessarily a great movie but ground-breaking of the time), the older Star Wars, all had great plots and great "presence" when watching it. Now looking at the movies we have today, Jackass, the National Lampoon Series, Napoleon Dynamite, we definitely are at a disadvantage from before. 3) Dependency on "gadgets and gizmos" are devaluing society Over the past month, I realized that I am dependent on two major pieces of technology, cars and cell phones. My car broke down and I was without it for several days. I felt like a mooch getting rides from anyone I know and not being able to go where ever I wanted. The other day I also left my phone at home. Have you ever been an entire day without your phone? I felt so very lost!!! Now do you think that a man in 1910 could still operate without his cell phone? Yeah, because he didn't have a phone to preoccupy his brain. I couldn't even concentrate in my government class cause I was so worried about my phone. And all of you skeptics, try leaving your phone at home for an entire day and you'll see how hard it is. I have just shown three major examples of inferiority today that we haven't had in the past, from personality to entertainment to material possessions. I would be more than willing to provide more examples if desired by my opponent, such as obesity or nuclear proliferation. As you have seen from my examples of everyday activities, society, on average, is getting worse. Thank you and I await your response.