Society is getting worse.

1. Rudeness You mentioned that often you cannot find what YOU deem to be a well-mannered casheir when you've traveled to other states (completely ignoring the fact that different parts of the country/world have separate cultures, up-bringings and values). My point was to demonstrate how that has been your own personal experience, and provides no insight into the mannerisms of society as a whole. I mentioned that my friends and I are polite, and most of us have been casheirs at some point. If we had serviced you instead of those other individuals, then you would have had a positive experience with out-of-state casheirs and not been able to list this example as "proof" of your point. 2. Decreasing Manners A. Again I would like to disregard the relevance of your grandfather's experience -- I'm not even sure what your point was? You mentioned that a casheir ran after him to let him know that he had forgotten his coat. Um, so? I have had patrons at restaurants (let alone casheirs) run after me when I have forgotten things at the table; just the other day an honest waiter reminded me that I had accidentally left my new Coach watch behind. B. I would also like to disagree that people's manners began to decline after the 1950s. Like I mentioned, back then people would still openly refer to a black individual as a nigger or a coon in everyday conversation. These were and are derogatory terms that were socially accepted back then, but would not be tolerated today depending on the company that you keep. And that's exactly my point. Rude people existed in 1958, and polite people exist in 2008. 3. Political Correctness A. You mentioned that being PC has gone too far. Maybe it has - you have a right to hold that opinion. But another person has that same right to be offended in a particular situation where you might not be. A perfect example comes from your own contention that you would find it rude if someone told you "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Well I might find it rude if someone merely assumed that I celebrated Christmas. It's all a matter of perspective, and honestly, I don't think this has much to do with your argument, but rather you are just reaching here... B. Again, your argument about your black friend really has very little to do with this debate. Also, what is PC changes all the time -- currently the term "black" is considered more PC than the term African American, so again there is really no reason for this commentary. C. No, I am not kidding you when I say that there is more censorship today than before. However, I did specify that I was referring to PC terminology - not the media in general. In fact, I noted the opposite when I discussed how movies today contain LESS censorship than those from the 1930s, which allows artists and filmmakers to expand on their creativity and content. However, I maintain that certain things are considered downright unacceptable today, whereas in years prior it was okay. Examples include using the word nigger in everyday conversation, and not hiring somebody based on their religious affiliaton. D. To take it a step further, society is making great strides in the PC department thanks to relatively new concepts such as women in the workforce. More and more women are becoming powerful outside of the home, and are able to balance both work and family life whereas previously women were restricted to no-income jobs such as homemaking. My opponent himself can not and does not disagree that we are making leaps and bounds (slowly but surely) in terms of equality, tolerance and acceptance. Think of it this way: there is a strong possibility that either a black man or a white woman will be the President of the United States in the year 2008. That would have been unthinkable 20 years ago. 4. Entertainment A. My opponent mentioned that cartoons and reality TV shows are ridiculous in comparison with past critisized past-times, such as baseball or bike riding. However again my opponent is being close-minded in terms of his examples. Have you ever thought of the perks of reality TV? I'm sure sociologists have a great time oberserving that peculiar human behavior. Plus, consider a reality TV show like The Bachelorette. It's a silly premise - I'll admit - but Bachelorette Trista met her husband and now baby's daddy, Ryan Sutter, thanks to the show's existance. Similarly, winners of Survivor have won a lot of money, and American Idol's like Kenny Clarkson have reality TV to thank for her career. So do her fans. So you see, you can't just focus on the negative and ignore the benefits. I'm sure a busy mother of 2 is thanking the creators of Sponge Bob everyday for entertaining her kids while she works. Plus, my opponent failed to respond to my point that there is not only mindless TV out there, but interesting and intelligent programming as well. Plus, consider the Ancient Romans and what THEY did for entertainment... B. Next my opponent attacks today's movies, and mentions that good films used to be a dime a dozen whereas now there are fewer and fewer every year. I whole-heartedly disagree. That is based solely on his opinion and does not reflect the current views of society. If people still appreciated the content and delivery of movie plot lines from the past, similar movies would still exist today (and they do in the form of romantic comedies, for example). However things change, and like I've mentioned, filmmaking like other art has evolved to include new techniques and ideas. Again my opponent is manipulating the facts; he asks who will replace Jack Nicholson, Sean Connery, Bob Hope and Lucille Ball - Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan? No. Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DiNiro and Meryl Streep - that's who. New and talented artists emerge constantly. Just because they might be different does NOT make them inferior. 5. Technology A. Straw-man alert! I never said that dependency on technology was a good thing. I said that people were so attached to their cell phones because of their many uses and incredible convenience. And replacing personal interaction with text messaging? That's an option but definitely not always the case. I know a lot of people who prefer talking to writing; the message is more clear that way. Plus, again my opponent is being very limiting - he says that we are dependant on technology because we are becoming lazy. What an over-statement! If I move to Jersey and all of my friends are back in NY, I'm going to call them on the phone to communicate with them because talking is more personal than writing a letter - not because I'm lazy. B. Con points to nukes, TV, the internet and digital cameras as examples of how technology is contributing to the downfall of society. I vehemently disagree with this ideology. He says that these things lead to death & destruction, obesity, cheating, porn and blackmail. Like I said, these things should be attributed to human nature in general - not the changing times. War existed long before Nukes did; there were fat people prior to TV; porn existed in the form of magazines before the internet was ever invented, etc. Just as these things can be instruments used for bad, they can also be (and are promoted to be) tools for good. 6. Human Capital A. You will never be able to police everybody and prevent people from using technology for evil, just as you couldn't police everyone and everything from the past. We are looking at this debate in terms of things as a WHOLE and what they are meant to be used for - not how some people abuse them (technology). B. Ridiculous point. I've already discussed how racism/sexism is definitely DECREASING, though some form of prejudice will always exist. C. I never said that teen drinking (etc) was down from 2000. I quoted an article from the year 2000. D. No more characters, but... for the record we are not all becoming evil and corrupt.