In a recent
interview with New York magazine, Supreme Court Justice Antonin
Scalia fretted over the “coarsness” of contempoary society, a
concern echoed by former Eurythmics front woman Annie Lennox, who
recently assailed music videos as a form of pornography, and the 72
percent of Americans (according to Gallup) who think the nation’s
morals are sliding.

Yet however crude etiquette might be these days, writes Nick
Gillespie, all the data show declines in bad behavior, especially
among youth, whom we would assume are most impressionable.

We may well be an increasingly ill-mannered society, one
that’s soaking in violent video games, instantly available online
porn, and Here
Comes Honey Boo Boo like our mothers used to
soak in Palmolive liquid. But we’re also one in which youth
violence, sex, and drug use are all trending down. If that means
putting up with, you
know, ladies cursing and other
examples of unambiguously crass behavior, it seems a terrifically
small price to pay.

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