I recall an episode from my past, perhaps 30 or so years ago, I was in a grocery store in the Los Angeles area. Standing near the front of the store, right near the check-out lines, I saw several employees of that store talking frantically with each other. There must have been two or three women and perhaps two young men. One of the women was speaking in a rather animated fashion, claiming that a man had just walked out of the store with a large case of beer that he had not paid for. She was urging the male employees to “do something!” They just stood there frozen, with a deer-in-the-headlights look.

When I realized the male employees were not going to take action, I stormed out of the store and went after the thief. He may have seem me coming because he tried to shove the box of beer under a car. I confronted him aggressively and told him he was busted. Then I physically grabbed him and put him in an arm-lock, swung him around, and marched him back into the store. He realized he was caught, but he asked me to let go of his arm. I refused to do so. I marched him back towards the store and right as I got to the entry doors, 5 male employees came running out – a bit too late. It kind of reminded me of so many of the action TV shows where one hero saves the day and nullifies the threat, and then and only then does the “back-up” team suddenly arrive in droves when the action is already over. Those scenes always made me roll my eyes.

In any event, after bringing the thief back inside and turning him over to the employees (who informed us that the cops were mere minutes away) I told them where he stashed the beer, they thanked me, and I left.

As I think about that episode, I wonder what I would do if that were to happen today. It’s hard to know for sure. I suppose it depends on a myriad of circumstances. The big “unknown” would be the disposition of the thief. I suspect that today, in 2024, there is a much greater chance than was the case in 1994 that the thief might turn violent, might draw a weapon, might have no compunction about committing murder on anyone who might try to get in his way.

What’s changed?

The coarsening of society.

I see it happening before my eyes in countless ways:

• People using profanity regardless of who is around to hear it, as if profane words are normal, routine words.
• People cheating in various ways.
• People being dishonest in various ways and thinking nothing of it.
• People belittling others rather than building them up.
• People embracing narcissism rather than compassion.
• And even people lacking the courage or the fortitude to confront thugs who terrorize the innocent in our big cities, on subways, on street corners, in parks, in restaurants, and even in houses of worship.

Our society is at a precipice. We are clearly more numb, more dull, more coarsened than previous generations.

What will that lead to?

Anarchy and suffering.