# Signs of Decline **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 10, 1999, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887 "1999-07-10T04:54:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 1999, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/1 "1999-07-10T04:54:00Z")
I don’t believe there will be a Y2K apocalypse, but I do think civilization is in decline. I frequently note signs of this decay, but have never written any down. I thought this might be a good place to start. I’ll lead off with the most recent sign I’ve noticed: Adam Sandler is a hugely successful movie star. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 1999, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/2 "1999-07-10T23:30:00Z")
I think $20 for a pair of jeans is absurd. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 1999, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/3 "1999-07-11T04:22:00Z")
Pauly Shore. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 1999, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/4 "1999-07-11T05:12:00Z")
I used to sit in the box office of my theater and watch people spend 20 minutes trying to parallel park. That has to be a sign. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 1999, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/5 "1999-07-11T11:46:00Z")
The prevalence of advertising, it’s inescapable. Last week, I was flying on a business trip. OK, the “inflight entertainment” has commercials in it, that I’ve come to live with. But the pile of luggage tags at the ticket counter – you know, the cheap little cardboard-n-string stuff, so that you can put identification on your luggage – had an ad for a prescription drug on it! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 1999, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/6 "1999-07-11T12:53:00Z")
“This #!&%$\*! thread belongs in MPSIMS” messages posted by the GQ mod. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 1999, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/7 "1999-07-12T18:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > a romance novel is sold every second of every hour of every day across the world This quote came from Shirley Ujest in the “Women Seekin Abuse?” thread. I automatically thought of this thread ;). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 1999, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/8 "1999-07-12T19:12:00Z")
CD: Advertising? Doncha just love the little full sound& video commercials on the 7-11 ATM’s? Not only do they ding you $2 for the privilege of getting your money at the ATM ,they force you to watch commercials before they give it to you! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 1999, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/9 "1999-07-12T21:29:00Z")
After reagan got elected President I stopped keeping track. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/10 "1999-07-13T00:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I think $20 for a pair of jeans is absurd. Are you kidding? They must charge us fat chicks more for the extra material our jeans require because I don’t think I’ve ever paid $20 for a pair of jeans. It’s more like $40. * * * “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/11 "1999-07-13T00:39:00Z")
We have no national vision, that’s the worst sign. We had manifest destiny once. And in the sixties we had the space race. Now we have the quest for $20 jeans. (I haven’t paid less than $40 in years, either). ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/12 "1999-07-13T04:47:00Z")
Speaking of clothes and the fall of civilization…Old Navy drawstring pants? People are buying these pieces of crap and actually WEARING them? In PUBLIC? Anyone with a yard of fabric, an old shoelace and access to a sewing machine can come up with a more attractive replica in less than an hour. And a hell of a lot cheaper than what they’re pimping the damn things at. Oh, and for cheap jeans…try Bugle Boy outlets…I get mine there for $12-$15, and the women’s seem to be actually cut for women (of all things!) and fit great (me, anyways.) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/13 "1999-07-13T05:32:00Z")
Athletes earn more than brain surgeons and world leaders. Marilyn Manson is actually popular. WWF…nuff said. 50% of marriages end in divorce. People think that wearing clothes that resemble underwear is ok. Columbine. Alcohol. Drugs. Cigarettes. Abortion. Suicide…etc…etc…etc… ``` Some of these things aren't brand new. But I could write a complete book about all the reasons I think society is immoral, and basically sick and wrong. It just makes me sad to even think about it. ``` Adam ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/14 "1999-07-13T06:33:00Z")
Hey, Marilyn Manson is cool. Very cool, much cooler than most of his music would make you think. I have read several in-depth interviews with him and was really quite impressed. He’s a classic example of a book that shouldn’t be judged by its cover. (And he is NOT a Satanist, by the way) I’m with you on the WWWF, tho. H * * * Stoidela **Boycott shampoo! Demand REAL poo!** ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/15 "1999-07-13T09:28:00Z")
Soap operas, Jerry Springer, no disclaimer about the Blair witch or the UFOs on tv with easily discernable tailbooms (the back ends of helicopters), a president who lies compulsively, kindergarten classrooms that do not have the alphabet posted anywhere… And most especially, the people who blame the media when their poorly supervised, sociopathic spawn commit violent crimes. Why can’t they just admit they should have noticed a problem sooner? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/16 "1999-07-13T16:45:00Z")
Did you see the old commercials for the new type of cellophane “lockable” sandwich bag? They suggest the average American lacks the skills required to operate a zip-lock bag. The BBQ pit forum gets more traffic than the Great Debates forum. South Park is judged an “Adult” movie. Stores at malls pay for the “exclusive” right to sell tie-die shirts there. How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the live action movie starring Jim Carrey as the Grinch, is coming out this Christmas. In a recent [CATO poll](http://www.cato.org/dispatch/07-06-99d.html), most Americans gave the opinion that newspapers should not be allowed to publish freely without government approval. Your Quadell ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/17 "1999-07-13T18:38:00Z")
Hey, Marilyn Manson is cool. Very cool, much cooler than most of his music would make you think. I have read several in-depth interviews with him and was really quite impressed. He’s a classic example of a book that shouldn’t be judged by its cover. (And he is NOT a Satanist, by the way)}} I was always under the impression that he was involved in the Church of Satan. Or maybe he just hung out a bit with Anton LaVey (And for the life of me, I can’t remember how to spell his last name.) I’m sure I could look it up somewhere, though. I find him (and some of his music) entertaining. It’s funny how some people make such a big deal about it and blame him for just about everything, when there are real problems in the world to think about. And hey, he’s an Ohio guy, so he can’t be all bad. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/18 "1999-07-13T19:09:00Z")
Hung out with LeVey, eh? LeVey died on November of 1997. I suppose he’s with God now. 😉 Here’s LeVey’s amusing obituary: [http://www.panix.com/~scmiller/goodbye/nov97/lavey.html](http://www.panix.com/~scmiller/goodbye/nov97/lavey.html) Your Quadell ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 1999, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/19 "1999-07-13T21:47:00Z")
a definate sign of the decline: the other day in Washington state a woman dragged a puppy to death by holding it’s cian out the window of her van while driving because the puppy nipped at her neice. It was someone elses puppy too! * * * To deal with men by force is as impractical as to deal with nature by persuasion. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 1999, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887/20 "1999-07-16T06:54:00Z")
That’s awful, that’s just really repellent - Jim Carrey as the Grinch. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-decline/1887.md?page=2)