There was a time, in my youth, when “etiquette” was a thing. I haven’t heard or read the word in, seems like, years. Also the term, “polite company.” When I was a midshipman, we were even issued a manual on Naval Etiquette. We were even required to memorize advice from John Paul Jones on “Qualifications of the Naval Officer” which read in part: “It is by no means enough that an officer of the Navy should be a capable mariner. He must be that, of course, but also a great deal more. He should be as well a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor.” Emily Post is probably now spinning in her grave.
I thought this post was indicative of how things have changed.
One of the best ways to lose your faith in humanity is to check social media after a notable public figure has announced a health struggle. Sure, you’re free to say just about anything (as long as it’s legal and follows the terms of service wherever it’s posted), but should you, really? You can’t find some compassion in your heart for a fellow human?
Oh, and then you get upset when someone (or a lot of someones) takes you to task for it? Ah, see, you’ve forgotten that freedom of speech (which, like all the amendments, isn’t absolute) doesn’t come with freedom from consequences, which may be just a little upbraiding if you’re lucky (loss of job, money, relationships, etc., if you’re not so lucky).
Over…
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Still Skeptical After All These Years 
I was just over there visiting Brenda’s blog. And my thoughts were much the same as yours. Whatever happened to good manners, dignity, compassion for others? I wasn’t in the Navy, but I was sent to several different cotillions (do such things still exist?). We are certainly living in a different world today, and it’s often very disturbing.
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Because one is free to do certain things does not mean you should do them. Everyone these days has at their fingertips the tools to do the wrong thing 24/7. Never before in the history of mankind have we been so ‘blessed’.
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It’s not just social media. I was a friend of Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand on Star Trek), and there has been a lot of buzz in news media about “the studio exec she slept with”. Not about her lifelong commitment to Trek and its’ fans, not about her successful struggle against drugs and alcohol, but who she had sex with. The same goes for an actor I enjoy, Tom Sizemore. In reporting his recent health problem with an aneurysm, there is constant retelling of his drug and alcohol problems. Brief mentions are made of his movie high points (Saving Private Ryan and Blackhawk Down), but his troubled history is told in sordid detail with great glee.
I was taught “If you can’t say something nice about somebody, say nothing”. Today’s motto is “If you CAN say something nice about someone, rake muck instead”. Sad.
p.s. You pulled a lot of material from The Spectator, Remind me – are you in or near Hamilton? If so, I need to bug you for some information. You remember be, the blogosphere’s favourite pain in the butt. 😉
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