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Comment by ellisd | Hacker News Reader

This is a fascinating view on the sedative crisis. The lack of shame from "normal" people feels very real. Complete inaction to the staggering and ever increasing death count rate and bodies piling on the ground IS utterly shameful, but not for 2023 USA.

I've noticed as well that when I've spoke to friends and family about open drug use and markets I become the one who's "out of line."

Do we as a free society have no shame left to express?

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There's a huge strain of "mind your own business" running through the USA right now. When someone is out of line, you used to be able to rely on the public to correct that behavior. Now if you try, you're the bad guy--or "Karen" as they say, and everyone flips out their cell phone cameras to try to capture that crazed weirdo who has the audacity to ask someone else to behave themselves.

I brought my kid to a pumpkin patch for Halloween last year and this lady told her kids to simply cut in line so they can go do some fun thing first. I thought to myself "crap, I can't say anything because you know what'll happen." My elderly father didn't have that inner voice and told the lady to get her kids to the back of the line. Well, as I expected, lady totally went bananas, whipped out her cellphone, shouting "you don't talk to my kids!" calling my old man a racist... everything under the sun.

We're expected to simply sit back, mind our own business, and ignore bad/destructive behavior. If you believe in the social contract you're out of line.

You think that assholes are a new phenomenon? You think that a few decades ago that lady would have meekly apologized and walked away?

I think the new phenomenon is how many people are now on the asshole's side, or are in the neutral "don't get involved" camp.

No, I don't think that assholes are a new phenomenon, and I agree that rude and entitled behavior has always existed. However, societal norms and expectations regarding how to handle such situations may have evolved over time. In the past, confrontation might have been more common.

I would have no problem calling someone out for being a shitty person in that scenario. How people respond has probably evolved a bit with social media and cell phones but it’s not my problem if someone reacts immaturely to me pointing out that they’re rude.

== When someone is out of line, you used to be able to rely on the public to correct that behavior. Now if you try, you're the bad guy==

I think people “mind their own business” out of concern for their own safety. The increases in gun ownership, road rage incidents, and mass shootings has certainly impacted my impulse to correct someone in public.

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