zlacker

>>helsin+(OP)
> Our society has become one in which people feel licensed to give their selfishness free rein.

This, this right here - and it's not just the US where this shows up (although it's definitely the most extreme). At the core, I think, it's all about "free speech": when you have a constitutional right to say whatever you want, without any limitations, you will first get a bunch of contrarians yelling all sorts of offensive stuff around "for the lulz"/"because they can", and eventually that sort of stuff gets normalized, and then societal cohesion (especially when the offensive stuff is directed towards minorities) and eventually society itself gets poisoned.

>>mschus+72
>it's not just the US where this shows up

where else do you meen?

>>finnjo+x3
It's grown in Australia slightly in recent years.

>>prawn+c4
No offense but Australia, UK very much tend to have the same mentality as the US, from an exterior point of view.

>>bestou+H4
Not surprising, given the influence of people like Murdoch and his media which is just the same crap that's being fed to Americans.