Moral Conditions

September 27, 1910, Menasha Record

We've noted in the blog before the seeming overemphasis on morality within the city by the local newspapers during certain time periods.  Be it warning us of "shady" individuals who walked our streets or just commenting on the moral "climate" in general, the diligent editor of the Record and those of other periodicals were sure to inform the populace of any perceived moral degradations, lest they get any more hotter under their starched collars.  

Of course, I can view this with 21st century sensibilities and know only too well that if the newspapermen of that era somehow chanced upon a time machine and flung themselves forward to our current era, they'd be in for the shock of their lives.  No doubt they'd be spewing plaintive cries for the fall of Babylon happening before their bespectacled eyes.  A small dose of the Kardashians or viewing any recent red carpet for the Grammy Awards would likely stop their hearts, or at best, send them into paroxysms of shaking and gasping for air.  These are things we may not like, but have come to expect.

Lest I continue on this track, the bottom line is simple.  Everything is relative...relative to its time and the mores we allow ourselves to ascribe to.  It's all evolution, that process of gradual change that takes place over many generations.  I think of that now and then when somebody invokes "the good old days."  At first glance, the idea might seem appealing, but peel back a few layers and see what you are left with.  You might have a different viewpoint after that. You might even decide our so-called morality wasn't so moral after all.