Things were always rotten

Lately, conservative pundits and preachers have decried the declining moral standards in current American culture. No doubt there have been some changes, imposed from the top. But it's easy to forget how things used to be–which wasn't all that different.

Dragnet 1967 (TV Series)

The Big Kids (4 May 1967)

Quotes

Capt. Lou Richey: It's not just a law enforcement problem, it's a community problem.

Sgt. John Pearson: Trouble is there's no community captain. These people come piling in from everywhere. They don't know each other and don't want to. They come out here, make a down payment on a house and move in with a couple of kids. That doesn't mean they made a home no more than givin' a name to a place

Sergeant Joe Friday: Yeah, and you get a little weary of hearing every kid give you the same excuse when you tag them. You don't understand. I just want to belong that's why I did it. Belong to what?

Capt. Lou Richey: What it boils down to is the new morality, doesn't it, a new set of values. God is dead. Drug addiction is mind expanding. Promiscuity is glamorous. Even homosexuality is praiseworthy. How you gonna fight that?

Officer Bill Gannon: It ain't easy.

Capt. Lou Richey: What you got to remember that, the vast majority of the juveniles are the kids next door. They're not hard core criminals. It's just that to them, it's a great deal more important to be accepted by the other kids than to please their parents.

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