Mayberry?

Where has Mayberry gone, or did it ever really exist?  As I look at the world around us and the decline of society I wonder where did the towns like the fictional Mayberry disappear to.  Did they really exist, yes I know that Mayberry (which got its name cam from the Town of Mayberry in Patrick County Virginia) was truly a fictional town for the setting of the Andy Griffith Show; but did those towns exist...  I remember watching the town of Mayberry on reruns as a kid, really the only black and white TV show I ever remember being aired with regularity.  As I watched the town where everyone knew everyone else, people greeting each other on the street and stopping to have a chat on a park bench, and Aunt Bee always baking something for someone else; I wonder was it really like this in the small towns around America?  I'm sure it was within reason, however I'm not sure the town drunk has ever locked himself up but it made for good TV.  The reason I sit here and ponder on this is because how do we get back to Mayberry, how do we stop the downward slide of society and how do we start the trend of looking out for our neighbor, get that small town atmosphere back to life.

I'm not a sociologist by any means, but I am fascinated by society.  I enjoy looking at society over periods of time and the transformation that society has taken for the good and the bad.  In order to get back to Mayberry we have got to realize how we got to the place we are today!

Society after WWII appears in my prospective to have changed drastically.  We went from a society that stepped up for our friends, neighbors and our country in to slow transformation of a society that started keeping up with the Jones.  We stopped being concerned about the welfare of each other and started focusing more and more on ourselves.  The Land of Milk and Honey coming out of WWII our Grandparents (or at least in my case) worked hard to provide for their family.  They started providing for their family the things they never had as a child.  These were the kid's of the "baby boom".  Unfortunately this is where I personally see the downward spiral of society becoming noticeable somewhere in the 1960s.  This my friends is where we lost Mayberry,  ironic to say the least because The Andy Griffith Show and the fictional town of Mayberry first aired on CBS in October of 1960.    The children of the "baby boom" were entering the work force, they were graduating high school some went to college, some started going after the almighty American dollar and many young men went to Vietnam...

Now again I reiterate I am neither a sociologist nor historian, but this is merely my opinion on the matter.  But as the 1960s proceeded, the "Baby Boomers" were swept back in time to the days of their parents with Vietnam.  However the attitudes at home were not that of the 1940s.  The war was apposed by many and the soldiers were not heroes as they were in WWII.  This again added tot he plague of the American society.  Those who stepped up for their Friends, Neighbors and Country were not awarded the same respect as their father's.  This had to have a negative effect on society and stimulate a thought process of why should I do anything for anyone else; I will just look out for me.  I will better myself no matter whom I have to step on to do it.  Climbing of the proverbial corporate latter now has begun full speed ahead; life was now entering the fast lane.

The climbing of the corporate latter further assisted in the diminishing of Mayberry.  Small towns did not hold opportunity, this was the slow lane.  People left home and went to big cities to chase the almighty dollar.  The problem with this is that everyone else was doing the same thing.  Making a dog eat dog world you had to have the upper hand. Life was flying by!

Ok, so here we are Vietnam is over which unquestionably had a negative effect on society.  Now we are keeping up even more than ever with the Jones, this has become a lifestyle.  The "baby boomers" start having children of their own, Gen-X.  This generation only enhances the distance from Mayberry; they have lost sight of those Mayberry values if you will.  It is not totally their fault because they were guided by a more individual focused society than a community focused society.  They become the society in my opinion that nothing was ever good enough for.  They were most likely the kids who got a car once they turned 16, but that was not good enough.  They are the ones in the work place that once every 5 or 6 years have to jump to the next big thing because the last job was not good enough.  Once again a society focused on themselves and not what they can do for others.  Understand this is a pure generalization and not accurate in all cases but I think if we look at society as a whole this is what we see.

Here we are today with the Grandchildren of the baby boom are in school and starting to enter the work place.  Their parents maybe to some degree start seeing the errors of the past but their solutions only move to make a bigger problem.  Because I think the Gen-Xers never thought anything was good enough, now they instill in their children that everything they do is great; to the point that those children, Gen-Y have an unbelievable since of entitlement.  They have a thought process that everyone wins, for example everyone that played little league baseball this year gets a trophy.  Now what is wrong with this you ask?  That is not how the world works, success come to those who work for success.  Though a lot is to be said for determination and motivation but we do not always win.  Sometimes a lost can be better than a win!  It can build your determination and your motivation and realize that everything is not handed to you and you have to work for it!  

Ok, don't think I have gone off in another direction how does this correlates back to Mayberry you ask?  Well society now has become extremely apathetic.  We have a generation of people who believe just showing up is the best they can do... I am sure we have all heard the disgruntled employee make the statement "They should just be glad I came to work today".  If just showing up is our best then how on earth can we help each other or ourselves for that matter?  This apathetic attitude has led to distrust in other, the false since of trust in ourselves and yes a greater deterioration of society. Many people no longer care about the community, they are so in grained with their selves their image and try to keep up that lifestyle.  Many either work non-stop to maintain the lifestyle they hold so precious, while many others just are showing up living for the moment with no ability to envision the future.  To put it bluntly we either don't have time for each other or we just don't care....

This is my brief synopsis of how we lost Mayberry.  Part II will be my thoughts on how we get back to Mayberry...  Comments are welcome!