What is really wrong with America?

When I wrote that title, I thought twice about it. Is it just America? Certainly not. It is more of a generational thing. Actually, it is more a couple of generations than just one. However, I would say, as a Canadian, that there is a noticeable difference between Americans and others here. The type of thing I describe in this blog would almost never happen in Canada. It is simply not tolerated. Not all Americans are like those in this story, and in fact many are not,  but there are enough of them out there. More each day it seems to me. A big part of that is social media. An even bigger part of it is the kind of culture--or lack of one--that has been transmitted in the last 30 or 40 years.
You can find a lot of things to justify the title of the blog. I won't be going towards the old standbys.

The big debt issue. Nope.
The corrupt government dilemma. No sir.
Jobs going to places like China and Mexico and that we don't make things anymore. Another blog. Another time.
Same sex marriage. No thanks. Live and let live. 
Our numerous wars and the fact we don't have the money to pay for them. This blog isn't nearly long enough for that issue. 
Those are all legit things that are wrong with America, and much of Western culture, but that is big picture. I am delving into the roots of the issue this time.

So, no, in this blog, I am going to get to the underlining problem that we have to deal with these days. It is two pronged. In this case, they intersected.

"Parents of the hundreds of teens who broke into and destroyed former NFLer Brian Holloway’s upstate vacation home are threatening to sue him for outing their brats on Twitter — saying he’s spoiling their chances of getting into college."

Yes, you read that right. Instead of punishing their kids for being juvenile delinquents, breaking and entering, defacing private property and then being complete idiots for posting online what they did, these parents want to sue the guy who got robbed and then posted it on social media....after their own kids did the exact same thing. First. 
Yes, you read that right. 
So, the first problem is that we have way too many people raising kids who should not be doing that, and a bunch of kids who are suffering for that lack of ability. And then, we all suffer for that. I think that is a generational thing. When I grew up, you simply knew not to do anything like those kids did, and if you did you knew what you were in for. For parents to act the way they are, which may even be worse than their own kids, suggests that they have no clue how to raise children and have themselves never grown up. Likely, they learned their lack of class and right from wrong from their parents, and now that has been passed down another generation.
 
“Some complained that this will ruin their kids’ college plans. Others have threatened me, saying ‘Take my kid’s name down or I’m gonna press charges against you.’

“You’re going to press charges against me? C’mon, now. If that were one of my children, they would be doing a year’s worth of apologizing,” said Holloway, a father of eight.

Second, it seems the way most want justice these days is to use social media. Is that the grown up thing to do, get justice for a crime on the internet? Nope, it is not. That is what we have courts for. Stooping down to their level doesn't gain you anything. Again, where is the maturity?

http://nypost.com/2013/09/20/parents-want-to-sue-former-nfler-for-outing-their-hard-partying-brats/

The former New England Patriots offensive lineman learned of the debauched bash — attended by some 200-300 trespassers — after many of the punks gleefully posted photos and texts on social media from inside the out-of-control crash party that left 10 shattered windows, urine-soaked carpets, gouged oak floors and walls covered in graffiti and holes. 

In my mind, I don't want these kids going to college anyway. They clearly lack the brains and judgement necessary to excel there. That may sound harsh or judgemental, but how can we expect them to act mature enough for college (where these types of temptations are already very evident) when they can't even keep their dumb asses from posting criminal behavior in social media?
We all did things like this growing up. Crazy parties, drinking, drugs in some cases. Crazy driving and some risky behavior. But what we never did, never even thought of doing, was break into someones house and then do the things these kids did. And then brag about it on top of that. There has to be a huge disconnect right from the parents on down to make that happen. If and when we did these types of things, our parents punished us and set us straight, as Mr. Holloway noted in his response. Blaming the victim is certainly not teaching their kids a lesson on how bad their behavior actually was. In some ways, it condones it. I would say that the parents don't actually get what a terrible thing their kids really did. It should be on the record, out in the open, and possibly cost them a shot at college. In the real world, in real life, there are consequences to actions when you don't act like an adult or responsible member of society. If not, what is to stop anybody from doing anything?
We have to ask ourselves. Where have we gone wrong here? I know that when I grew up, if I did anything as stupid as these kids did, my greatest concern would not be getting into college. It would be surviving the night at my own house after dealing with my father. Certainly, I would never be outed on social media, because I would never be stupid enough to post what I did online. That deals with the kids side.
As for the home owner, while he shouldn't be sued, he isn't entirely skating away from this. There are courts and if he wants justice, just sue the kids and their parents. Don't be an ass and try to get your justice on Twitter or Facebook. 
And lastly, what if he got one of the names wrong, and one of the kids he outed didn't actually do anything wrong? In that case, his ass should be sued. It isn't the venue to get justice. Period.
So, what is really wrong with America these days? There is a lack of class and common sense, and everything else that happens flows from that. For me, that means we have parents who are not qualified to raise kids raising kids and that is perpetuating itself for at least two generations now. Until we correct that somehow, it only gets worse. 
We better fix it. It is almost at epidemic levels now. It isn't a few isolated incidents and that is very troubling for our futures.