Bleep ! The Decline Of Civility By Kathleen Parker

My grandmother taught me that “there is no excuse for bad manners,” and I have taken this little piece of wisdom with me throughout life. People in today's world seem to have thrown away manners and have forgotten that common decency, basic kindness, concern, respect and courtesy can not only open doors of opportunity, it literally defines their

My grandmother taught me that “there is no excuse for bad manners,” and I have taken this little piece of wisdom with me throughout life. People in today's world seem to have thrown away manners and have forgotten that common decency, basic kindness, concern, respect and courtesy can not only open doors of opportunity, it literally defines their character. Ethics and morality is not just about big things – it's about the small things: the details of life. Morris calls this the “conditions under which people can be their best and do their best” (Morris p. 122). Treating people with

Politeness is able to show a person’s feelings towards others and awareness of a social custom. There are many purposes of politeness including: creating a public self image, creating solidarity, threatening people to send a negative message, not threatening people or upsetting them, indicating social relationship, showing awareness of social context, and power dynamics. The value of polite speech in a culture has the purpose of creating solidarity. Polite speech in a specific culture is very important and should be practiced as much as possible.

Carlson gives evidence of the decline in public discourse by summarizing an incident in which a talk radio host crossed the line of decency by failing to respect a person whose ideas differed from his and his listeners’. Why is it important to maintain civility toward those whom you disagree?

Civility is manners. Doing simple behaviors like not chewing with one’s mouth open while eating or holding doors open for others can be considered as simple acts of civility. In the two essays “What is Civility?” by P.M. Forni and “Play with Your Food, Just Don’t Text” by Sara Rimer, they discuss civility. In Forni’s essay, he discusses civility from a teacher’s stand point, and Rimer focuses on technology and how it leads to a lack of civility in a lot of homes worldwide. Although they have two different stand points, they both focus on the similar aspect of civility being significant. Civility is important because it allows Americans to get along with each other by showing simple actions of courtesy, having manners, and being polite.

Oftentimes conflicts are only considered to be only an international difference in opinions, however, conflict can be present as a national issue. In the United States of America, although considered a relatively peaceful country, experiences national conflicts regularly. Dennis Prager says “Since neither black animosity nor the Left’s falsehood of ‘racial tensions’ is based on the actual behavior of the vast majority of white Americans, nothing white America can do will affect the perceptions of many black Americans or of the leftist libel.” This quote defends the idea that in most cases, the racial tension is one sided and without clear evidence.

As American people, we know that we are entitled to certain rights according to the constitution; one of which is freedom of speech. In Civility and Its Discontents, Leslie Epstein explores the limits and contradictions of this much cherished right when considering whether he would expel a student who wrote racial slurs in the dorm rooms of a University if it was up to him. He discusses this situation and topics that stem from it in an analytical yet somewhat emotionally involved tone and makes the reader reflect on the wide range of information presented about the issues of political correctness, freedom of speech, expulsion, and racism.

Conversation is a ritual every person must encounter throughout their lives in order to function properly with one another in today’s society. However, every individual has a “different idea about what’s appropriate” when approaching someone in any sort of conversation; that is why we are referred to as individuals (Tannen 327). There are thousands of diverse languages to speak to one another with, in fact that means there are thousands of different ways to offend each other with our words. Within those languages there are several contrasting gestures that can offend any single person, such as the amount of times individuals apologize in one meeting, giving criticism too harshly, or thanking someone so often it does not seem genuine. In the article “What Do You Mean,” Deborah Tannen touches upon apologies, criticism, and thank yous in further detail to explain where individuals go wrong within conversation and how they can fix their actions. Individuals find it satisfying to please others by being polite because it is the ‘right’ thing to do, however like myself others need to stand up for themselves and get directly to the point now in order to avoid conflict later in life.

Carr uses examples that happen on a day to day basis, which makes it seem as if it is the new trend to be rude during social

The purpose of this question was to encourage the group to think about how they feel when someone is rude or ignores them opposed to how they feel when someone gives them full attention and how attitudes can be ‘contagious’.

On the other hand, there are others who were just born rude. They say anything they want to others without thinking. There facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice contribute to this. These are the people who are really negative in life. I don’t see how people can just say whatever out their mouth without even thinking of how others would take it or how it would make them feel. When people are being rude they are revealing who they are as a person in life. They are weak-minded. This shows how little their minds are and how they are working because only know how to be rude and disrespectful. People who always say, “They don’t care”, “I only care about myself”, “Nobody’s feelings matter to me”, and “It doesn’t concern me” are the people who fit in this kind of category typically because that’s their mindset and how they think. You really need to think about others and the way you speak to them

Recognizing the personal benefits of being nice might motivate us to do it a little more often like when an opponent gives you a harsh tackle in a soccer game.

The big three “rules to live by” that all people should follow are ¨Being kind can give make opportunities spark but being rude can lead you to being unhappy and just not feeling the way you should feel when you happy.

As children we are taught to always show respect to those around us. We are taught to never say no to an adult, to listen and to use manners to everyone around us. But as we grow older we develop a sense of rebelliousness, and an urge to question every single moral and value we have learned.

However, we should pay attention to our manners, utilize our communication skills; and on the bottom line, we need to avoid intentionally hurting people.