Amen to what Permanent Pajamas said. The lack of accountability has a lot to do with the trend to put others down these days - and this kind of behavior was fostered and encouraged both online and offline. How many times did any of you hear someone say something crude or inappropriate, then backtrack and say "Oh don't get your panties in a knot, it's just a joke?!" (Or worse, turn on you because "you can't take a joke" while their mates approve).

At any rate, I think the Internet is largely responsible for the lack of empathy nowadays. Once you get used to spewing all sorts of crap online, where you can't be held accountable for it, that kind of behavior tends to happen in real life, too. Today's twenty-somethings learned to (pardon the expression) cr*p on everything years ago on the Internet.

Last month, I witnessed my 13 year-old cousin play a multiplayer game on his brand new console. It was the kind of game you can voice chat in. Imagine my surprise when I heard him shout "Take a **** up the *** and die you ****ing ****" (replace those asterisks with things a kid that age should absolutely not say - and I'm no prude, believe me). I rest my case.