Change is dynamic, yet this "Anything Goes Generation" is far too scurrilous. Although each season has its time for every purpose, there are certain core values that should remain timeless — a sense of right and wrong, respect, courtesy, manners, humility, and altruism. Although too many Americans are adopting salacious, bawdy individual preferences, many Americans deplore immorality forced upon innocuous television viewers.
Those born in decades before the 1970s had a different perspective. Previous generations were grounded by basic positive principles. Youth revered the sage, and citizens observed certain decorum in the presence of senior statesmen. Whatever happened to social appropriateness?
To watch an American entertainer, acting like a vamp while performing half-naked, dressed for a strip show, wriggling suggestively is beyond extreme ("Cyrus' racing dancing the talk of the VMAs," Aug. 27). Television is no longer free for the majority of American viewers. Who wants to pay cable bills to view trash on what is touted as a family-oriented show? While young people dress suggestively, wear inappropriate attire for various occasions, and dishonor the honorable, there is no excuse for bad manners.
As America continues to sleep and ignore the decline of morality, other nations are ascending, creeping, and climbing on the backs of an attenuated nation. Today, America accepts freedom in all forms of individual expression even if it is offensive to others. In "olden times," one's rights ended where another's rights began. Today, free expression trumps all no matter how negative the action.
If entertainers want to display themselves to boost their ratings, they need to find the proper forum. Hopefully, America will not succumb to an "anything goes" mentality as this nation may lose its respectful standing worldwide. While technology advances have been great, the need for privacy is even greater. The public does not need to see a display of intimacy on television, videos, or social media.
Gayle Westmoreland, Columbia