Originally Posted by Brocephus

I'm sure many of us recall the days when people often didn't bother locking their doors at night. Now a great many people won't answer the front door without a pistol in their hands. Applications for carry permits are off the charts !
People have burglar alarms and cameras covering not only their houses, but their cars, yards, lawn mower sheds, etc. I used to hitch hike around the county without a problem, who wants to do that these days ? (or has any expectation of getting picked up by anything by a pervert or serial killer). I routinely hear people click their stupid car alarm, when just walking into a convenience store for a half a minute, and can see the car the whole time !! We are surrounded by high tech police and security, much of it we never see. Going through airport security is like a scene in a science fiction movie. Schools all over the country have metal detectors, armed guards, and monitors posted in the bathrooms to keep the kids from screwing in the bathroom stalls, LOL!!
There have always been parts of every city that are considered wise to avoid, especially after dark, but these days, you're taking your life in your hands !
"Home invasion" was a term that didn't exist a few decades ago, now everybody knows and fears them. Drug gangs virtually rule large areas of our major cities, and have memberships in the tens of thousands.
Do I need to go on? Because I can go on till midnight. I'm not saying the good ol' days were idyllic as Mayberry or Ozzie & harriet, but the fact is there has been a sea change in the moral fabric of this country, and citing some per capita statistic doesn't alter what nearly everyone routinely acknowledges.

(BTW, i wasn't calling you out when i quoted your post, I was just expanding on it).