# Are Americans becoming ... wussies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 1, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536 "2010-04-01T04:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/101 "2010-04-03T21:04:44Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Many kids today will never ride their bicycle to school. Too dangerous. Or walk to school. Child predators are out there, so no walking with your friends in the neighborhood. Sad. So many of the young kids are missing out on some fun, neat things because their parents are too worried the kid might get hurt. But again, some of those things are not new. And sometimes it has more to do with the practicality of walking vs it being “wussy”. I never rode my bicycle to school because it required navigating several busy streets that were constantly covered in snow and ice. Walking was out for much the same reason. Why trudge through two miles of waist deep snow when the nice (OK, smelly), warm (OK, cold) bus was waiting for me every morning. I wasn’t alone either. Students had to declare whether they walked or took the bus at the beginning of the year. “Walkers” never accounted for more than a handful of kids. This was all 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/102 "2010-04-03T21:36:59Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > But again, some of those things are not new. And sometimes it has more to do with the practicality of walking vs it being “wussy”. > > I never rode my bicycle to school because it required navigating several busy streets that were constantly covered in snow and ice. Walking was out for much the same reason. Why trudge through two miles of waist deep snow when the nice (OK, smelly), warm (OK, cold) bus was waiting for me every morning. > > I wasn’t alone either. Students had to declare whether they walked or took the bus at the beginning of the year. “Walkers” never accounted for more than a handful of kids. > > This was all 20 years ago. Valid points. But we seem to continue to remove even minor risk and minimal danger from our children’s lives. I watched this with my sister’s family when she pulled her kids out of school because one of them had been bullied. They missed out on much socialization and potential friendships by staying home all day. They were too sheltered. Her kids will not always have the option to simply leave a difficult situation. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/103 "2010-04-05T02:30:39Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > Did you actually play Crack The Whip? I thought that went out around 1930. My father remembered playing it as a kid; he said everyone wanted to be the kid on the end. Crack the whip was fun! Played that during the 70’s and 80’s. Good runs were when you got 30+ kids in tow. They went everywhere. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/104 "2010-04-05T02:34:45Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Slight hijack here. I used to be a PE teacher, and there are some very good reasons for banning games like that in gym class. We didn’t play those games during gym – we played them during recess and lunch. Gym class was some overweight dick bitching at me for not running fast enough around the track for his liking. Recess and lunch were when we had fun. Gym class was a pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/105 "2010-04-05T03:13:01Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > We didn’t play those games during gym – we played them during recess and lunch. Gym class was some overweight dick bitching at me for not running fast enough around the track for his liking. Recess and lunch were when we had fun. Gym class was a pain in the ass. Equally bad teaching. As I said, PE is often taught very poorly. But there are those who know what they’re doing, and it can be done well. I took it as a huge compliment when visitors would look in on my classes and often remark, “Wow, this is nothing like gym class when I was a kid.” ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/106 "2010-04-05T06:37:15Z")
I normally shy away from the term “wussy”, in favor of the slightly more adult-sounding “wuss”. But in some ways we probably are. Particularly, the people who complain about “five-dollar cups of coffee” at Starbuck’s, but actually misapply the phrase to a tall, frothy, highly sweetened blend that includes perhaps a coffee-bean’s worth of actual coffee . ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/107 "2010-04-05T06:45:15Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s fine until we need them to fix a Great Depression or storm a beach. > . People were saying the same thing about the WW2 generation. The Japanese had a cultlike devotion to their emperor and were willing to commit suicide on his behalf. German soldiers were invading France while US teens (who eventually joined the war effort) were still attending dances and going to high school. So there was a mentality that US soldiers were wusses compared to Japanese & Germans. But they did fine. I think the fact that people are more wussy is great. Shows we have progressed as a society and do not have as much destructive conflict. Good. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/108 "2010-04-05T07:00:10Z")
I see a generally self-destructive trend from six decades of experience and observation which has been brought on by too much prosperity. The state I live in lists one in four children as obese and we have the lowest rate of youth obesity in the US. Too many of us are living our lives vicariously, I believe. Suicide and overdose rates have doubled and tripled. It is speculated that the current generation will be the first whose life spans won’t exceed their parents. Depression is rampant. Some of the wussiness has been generated by the prevelance of lawsuits and the human tendency to hubris - the idea that somehow, with enough money spent and enough technology we will be able to prevent human difficulty. This is very much the age of entitlement. We have a RIGHT to heroic health care. A RIGHT to not be offended by others’ words and actions. A RIGHT to do as we please as long as it doesn’t affect others, which of course, it usually does. While I am delighted by the awareness the newest generation has developed of social issues and the zeal in which some pursue honorable goals I think an important lesson is being lost. Neitsche said it best when he talked about that which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. I like to think that every human woe is an invitation to the emotional and mental gym to excersize those internal strength muscles. Take away the challenge and a person grows bored, lazy and some chubby. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/109 "2010-04-05T12:33:53Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I think the fact that people are more wussy is great. Shows we have progressed as a society and do not have as much destructive conflict. Good. The problem is that there are plenty of other cultures that haven’t embraced tree-huggery, and as the saying goes, those who turn their swords into ploughshares will be tilling fields for the people who didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/110 "2010-04-05T12:43:55Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > The problem is that there are plenty of other cultures that haven’t embraced tree-huggery, and as the saying goes, those who turn their swords into ploughshares will be tilling fields for the people who didn’t. Find out who is turning the ploughshares into swords, and put a stop to their industries. Just because you “embrace tree-huggery”, it doesn’t mean you are incapable of defending yourself from those who would try to stop you. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/111 "2010-04-05T12:47:00Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Find out who is turning the ploughshares into swords, and put a stop to their industries. Using what? Boxes of kittens? Strongly Worded Letters? A major leaflet campaign? ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/112 "2010-04-05T12:50:56Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Using what? Boxes of kittens? Strongly Worded Letters? A major leaflet campaign? Using the tools already all too widely available. It goes without saying you’d need to trust the people you’d sanctioned to use those weapons on your behalf. ie. trust them to give you the weapons back to be stored safely, once the job was done, and not to get too much of a taste for the killing and power aspect of their job. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/113 "2010-04-05T12:52:00Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I think the statistics show you’re much less likely to spend your entire career with one company now than you were if you started working decades ago. Does that make them lazier? Not necessarily. It means they don’t define themselves by their jobs and look elsewhere for some kinds of fulfillment. Easy there, in many cases the reason people don’t spend their entire career with one company is due to being fired, to the company being bought out, to the company being bought out and half the former employees being fired, to economic indices like “sales per employee” which favor outsourcing/subcontracting (and firing)… I graduated from Uni in 1994; the expectations in Spain at that time still were “one job for a lifetime”. But the recovery from that particular economic slump went through people getting used to working through temp agencies and squirreling away, not “for vacation” but “for the next time I’m unemployed”. You still run into people who think that stability is the end-all be-all, but they’re rare (and often get healed out of it pretty fast once the person who’s getting unwanted advice to “get a government job, those are forever” spells things out). If driving a car rather than walking from my house to my mother’s to visit (60 miles, if I’m not miscalculating) makes me a wuss then yeah, I’m a wuss. But there’s wusinesses that are fine in my book… ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/114 "2010-04-05T13:04:07Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Using the tools already all too widely available. It goes without saying you’d need to trust the people you’d sanctioned to use those weapons on your behalf. ie. trust them to give you the weapons back to be stored safely, once the job was done, and not to get too much of a taste for the killing and power aspect of their job. The problem is that if everyone in Country A has become a tree-hugging marshmallow, the people in Country B (who think that tree-huggery is an affront to everything they believe in) aren’t going to have much trouble expanding their Empire in the general direction of Country A. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/115 "2010-04-05T13:05:41Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > The problem is that there are plenty of other cultures that haven’t embraced tree-huggery, and as the saying goes, those who turn their swords into ploughshares will be tilling fields for the people who didn’t. If this is the metric to use to answer the OP, then America is about as far from wussy-status as a country can be. Our sword production facilities rumble on unhindered by any tree-huggery or ploughsharing-job loss. Do you contend otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/116 "2010-04-05T13:07:17Z")
> [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](#): > > If this is the metric to use to answer the OP, then America is about as far from wussy-status as a country can be. > > Our sword production facilities rumble on unhindered by any tree-huggery or ploughsharing-job loss. > > Do you contend otherwise? No, I don’t. I was just responding to the guy who said that tree-huggery was a good and desirable state of affairs in a modern industrialised country. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/117 "2010-04-05T13:15:42Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > No, I don’t. I was just responding to the guy who said that tree-huggery was a good and desirable state of affairs in a modern industrialised country. You are assuming that everyone in Country A has tree-hugging sensitivities that are tuned to the same wavelength. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/118 "2010-04-05T13:45:13Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > You are assuming that everyone in Country A has tree-hugging sensitivities that are tuned to the same wavelength. That’s generally the endgame for tree-huggers IME. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/119 "2010-04-05T13:52:06Z")
> [@Palo\_Verde](#): > > Did you know the Boy Scouts were invented because there was a great fear in the early 1900s that kids were becoming too wussy. So they invented a program to teach boys the great skills that they thought would anti-wussify them, like how to build a campfire, how to put up a tent, how to whittle, etc. > > The fear that our children are weak is an old one. An oddly enough, when i was growing up in the '70s and '80s even admitting you were in Boy Scouts was equivalent to tattooing “I am a Wuss” on your forehead. God help the poor kid you made the tragic mistake of wearing a Boy Scout uniform in public to anything but a Scouting sponsored event ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536/120 "2010-04-05T13:54:25Z")
> [@Tethered\_Kite](#): > > The state I live in lists one in four children as obese and we have the lowest rate of youth obesity in the US. Too many of us are living our lives vicariously, I believe. Suicide and overdose rates have doubled and tripled. It is speculated that the current generation will be the first whose life spans won’t exceed their parents. Depression is rampant. The suicide rate has been dropping since 1993 (albeit with a slight increase over the last few years). So why should we believe the rest of your obversations of the sad state of affairs of the US? > **[Homicide and Suicide Rates --- National Violent Death Reporting System, Six...](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5415a1.htm)** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-americans-becoming-wussies/534536.md?page=7)