And wasn't the environment and toxins and etc. etc. part of the clean up push during the 1960s and 1970s? (I was there - am I remembering it incorrectly?) So I'm not amenable to the toxins and pollution argument. We had higher crime rates during those decades also, and I'm pretty sure that nasty ghettos are a thing of the past (at least in my region they don't exist anymore). People with this argument sound like a broken record (we all know what those are, right?) Lack of integrity in government is not new and neither is lying politicians. Everyone has his favorite reason for the decline in our society, and I certainly have mine and it's more in line with your comment. I'd flesh it out by pointing out that an increased amount of women in the workforce means no one at home; single parenting is provably not good, etc. I certainly don't think these are the sole reason, but they are certainly not helping.