Have you been around long enough for something to bother you about modern society? You’ve got company. Someone recently asked, “What disgusts you the most about today’s society?” Here are the top-voted responses.
1. Overconsumption
“Overconsumption,” one stated. “McMansions, pickup trucks more oversized than WWII tanks, warehouse stores, daily Amazon deliveries, restaurant servings that feed over 3,000 calories.
“Closets full of clothes you have only worn once, $1000 phones bought annually, spending more time buying, storing, maintaining, safeguarding, cleaning stuff instead of interacting with people.” “I can’t believe this is so far down. Rampant overconsumption is probably the root cause of our downfall,” another agreed.
2. Family Vloggers
“Many things but family vloggers who profit off videoing their young children for the whole world to see from birth without their consent. These kids have never known anything different and have no chance of growing up the way most do,” one stated.
Another shared, “I saw a recent video of a young girl who put her mom’s lipstick all over her face and bawled in the bathroom because it stained her face. So what does the mom do? Shame her on camera and post it on TikTok while the girl looks embarrassed and broken. It hurt my heart. It had over a million likes too.”
3. Instant Gratification
“Instant gratification has completely ruined humanity,” replied one. Another sarcastically asked, “Why would you improve your life for gratification if you can get it in mere seconds from a garbage mobile game?”
4. Equating Offense to Victimhood
“The equating of being offended to being victimized,” someone shared. “Just because you don’t like what someone has to say doesn’t mean the person is attacking you. It cheapens the experiences of ACTUAL victims and makes the persecution of crummy people so much harder.”
5. Lack of Critical Thinking
“Lack of critical thinking in any capacity,” one user replied. “Schools have moved away from teaching HOW to think in favor of WHAT to think.” “Another problem with that is people accusing others of not being able to think critically despite their own indefensible beliefs,” another argued.
6. Treating People With Blatant Hatred
“How blatantly hateful people are towards one another,” said one. “I’ve seen people treat strangers like garbage, and it’s so sad to see. On the other hand, I’m pleasantly surprised when a stranger is respectful and has basic manners. It’s a rarity, it seems.”
“I think internet anonymity allows people more freedom to be who they are in a global social setting, and we are learning that most people are crummy and overall toxic,” another user replied.
7. Nobody Takes Accountability Anymore
“Nobody takes accountability for anything. It is always someone else’s fault. And no one tries to hold them accountable, either. Even my parents would rather blame me for having an issue with someone or something and not ‘getting over it’ vs. blaming the jerk who wronged me in the first place,” one shared.
8. People Who Only Live To Be on Social Media
“People who live only to post on social media,” one replied. “They travel and visit restaurants, only to show on their Instagram feed. When I see this, all I can think of is how stupid it must look when they’re filming and taking photos of themselves constantly instead of enjoying the experience.”
9. Ability to Quickly Dispose of Others
One user shared, “How people are quick to dispose of others, especially without regarding the other person’s emotions. My latest relationship ended because of this.”
“Disposed of is the correct word because it’s how I still feel three months later. I got teary-eyed writing this.” Another added, “The amount of ghosting of other people is too high!”
10. Repeating Wars and Mistreatment
“After all the horrors of war and mistreatment of each other, we continue to do the same things repeatedly,” one lamented. “Well, you know 80% of the world’s population would kill you just to have clean water and food,” another stated.
“American here visiting Southeast Asia on a 20-day trip. I am constantly dehydrated from a lack of decent drinking water mixed with unrelenting humidity and heat. So DO NOT take clean water for granted. What I would give for a decent cup of sink juice,” another confessed.
11. How Dumb People Are
“I never realized how excruciatingly dumb people are,” someone admitted. Another said, “You must have worked in customer service before. I challenge anyone to spend a year in customer service and not leave with a bleaker view of the world.” “The first time I experienced mass dumbness was when I moved to America for a year.”
“Seriously, how did this country get so far? It is like an entire population cannot have an opinion and lacks critical thinking skills. So everybody repeats what is fed to them by the media and prominent politicians,” another user confided.
12. Rampant Narcaccistic and Sociopathic Behavior
“Rampant narcissistic and sociopathic behavior most people exhibit as a result of internet culture,” one said. “Bonus, we live in it.” “I blame the phones. It’s pretty clear at this point that we weren’t meant to have millions of other people’s inner thoughts at our fingertips at all times.”
“It’s legit breaking our brains and creating an incentive structure for the most monstrously narcissistic people to rise to the top,” another concluded.
13. Glorifying Celebrities and Influencers
“That people glorify celebrities and social media influencers to the point that whatever they do makes online news like it’s news that matters,” one replied. “I hate the term influencers. They think they’re some gods just because they have people following them on their phones,” another added.
14. Significant Lack of Empathy
“The significant lack of empathy amongst many humans,” one user replied. “I think we see others more and more as nonplayer characters (NPCs) than as complex beings with feelings and emotions like ourselves.”
“Strongly agree. I feel we are just consumers, and there is very little interest in building a community with people living nearby,” another stated. Another mentioned how people are less caring, “They’d watch a stream and support the streamer via funding sites, yet they’d watch their next-door neighbor struggling to survive and think nothing of it.”
15. People Believing Anything They Read or Hear Online
“The number of people who will believe anything they hear or read about online and take it as fact,” one shared. “Today, my father called my aunt and told her to hide in the basement because there was going to be a nuclear bomb dropped on Massachusetts. As you’ve probably figured out by now, it hasn’t happened.”
This article was inspired by this thread and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Cents + Purpose.
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Elizabeth Ervin
Elizabeth Ervin is the owner of Sober Healing, a website that provides information about addiction, recovery, mental wellness, spirituality, and resources to help people succeed in rebuilding their lives. Elizabeth has education and experience with addiction, healing, and spiritual studies. She is passionate about learning, teaching, and loving her neighbor.
