Complaints about manners, morals, etc. over time

[Ryan A]

I'm looking for old articles bemoaning the sad state of affairs with society's morals, with the way the "youth these days" have no manners anymore, etc. from previous eras. I've seen these sorts of articles shared before as a reality check for people who complain that society is much worse today than it was in the "good old days" but I will confess my weak google-fu and accept whatever mockery that may come my way when a plethora of google hits with ridiculously obvious search terms show up in this thread.

[Incendiary Lemon]

I've always considered those articles pretty fraudulent. Society changes. Its not terribly relevent to learn what and what not to do with your walking cane as a first edition Emily Post instructs you.

[Hawkeye Fierce]

In my day, people came up with their own damn Google search terms. None of these fancy forums to help you out.

[Tom Ohle]

No help here in terms of articles, but I don't think there's any way you can deny the fact that youth today are generally greater wastes of space than they were even ten years ago.

(yes, I know there are a lot of exceptions to this -- good kids and whatnot -- but I can see the idiots all over the place, and they're more idiotic than ever before)

[Fugitive]

‘When I start my lecture, they just carry on winking at one another and talking about charioteers, miming, horses, dancers, past or future fights. Even better: some stand around like statues, their arms crossed. Others pick their nose with both hands, yet others remain seated when many people jump to their feet enthusiastically; they force enthusiastic listeners to sit down, and others count the number of newcomers, while yet others stare at the leaves on the trees.’

The orator Libanius (4th century AD) talks about a lecture he held for students in Antioch, Orations 3 in het Romeinse Rijk p.92).
From here. (http://www.news.leiden.edu/roman-boys-will-be-boys.jsp)

[tromik]

I'm looking for old articles bemoaning the sad state of affairs with society's morals, with the way the "youth these days" have no manners anymore, etc. from previous eras. I've seen these sorts of articles shared before as a reality check for people who complain that society is much worse today than it was in the "good old days" but I will confess my weak google-fu and accept whatever mockery that may come my way when a plethora of google hits with ridiculously obvious search terms show up in this thread.
Have you tried Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22good+old+days%22&hl=en&lr=&btnG=Search)? What you're looking for sound more like newspaper opinion columns or letters to the editor or something. I don't think there are a whole lot of scholary articles that argue in the direction you're looking for, most of the relevant ones argue the other way.

[JPR]

I bet it would be pretty easy to turn this thread into another argument about prescriptive language.

[shift6]

Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?"
For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Ecclesiastes 7:10

[MikeJ]

Here's one:

From Socrates (http://www.bartleby.com/73/195.html). Though reading the link to the end, it looks as though he didn't actually say this. Too bad.


The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.


One here:


I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on
the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless
beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and
respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and
impatient of restraint.
--- Hesiod, Eighth Century B.C.


It looks as though a lot of the quotes along these lines that are out there aren't actually true.

[Rimbo]

Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?"
For it is not wise to ask such questions.

Ecclesiastes 7:10

awesome

[Robert Sharp]

Perhaps they aren't true in many cases, but Aristophanes's the Clouds has lots of great lines about how young boys today (err, 424 BC or so) aren't modest enough about covering their penises and sanding down the ground where they have sat in order to avoid tempting their elders.

No, I'm not making this up.

[Alan Au]

O tempora o mores! Marcus Tullius Cicero has you covered on this one.

- Alan