When they stopped teaching English, spelling and grammar in schools

every era has had people complaining about the end of civilisation (and not just the computer game ) the only people who could say it with justification are those at the end of the roman empire before we plunged into the "dark ages" (in the western world at least). other civilisations have fallen before and since.

Yes and we have the criticism of txtspeak in general correspondence as another, but it could also be seen as a further evolution of the language. We are a long way from collapse of English society even if UKIP are right about some things.

The Black Eyed Peas. Especially WILL.I.AM or whatever he calls himself.

Originally a literary criticism, it's a relatively modern myth that society was struggling during this time. It's always been bull that society is eroding from some perceived golden age. You'll notice that the British Empire has 'fallen' and yet there's still Britain and there's still a society, which is now richer and better educated with less crime than at any point during the prime of the British Empire.

This thread is itself a sign of progress.

For most of the last 30 centuries the question would have been quite valid. Every society in this land was liable to collapse if the wrong guy died and the wrong son inherited his special chair. The weather we had last summer would have resulted in famine, and someone, somewhere, would have eaten a baby. Societies only really collapsed very infrequently, but the crises that could cause such disintegration were regular events.

On top of that, from the reign of Henry VIII through to at least Waterloo, this conversation would have gone instantly to the immediate threat of papistry and all their horrible Jesuit plots against us. For most of that period, most of us (assuming we are average) would have found that pretty convincing. That was followed by dirty social revolutionaries, the International Jew, stranglers, child knife gangs, gin, more Jews, the Irish, and so on.

Nowadays the collapse of society is mostly presaged by the declining quality of its trousers. Either boys who can't seem to pull theirs up, or girls who write Juicy across their buttocks in glitter.

So that's an improvement, isn't it?

North Korea - digging up your dead grandchild you're that hungry, allegedly

I noticed that as well. Didn't think society was collapsing, just that it was plumbing new depths.

Probably wiping too hard then.

Bdum tssh.

As to the original point, 'twas ever thus.

The amount of teenage girls beating people up in the streets

Are you feeling left out?

Left out of what? Are you saying I'm the type of person who would want to be beaten up?

If you're unclear of what I mean here are some recent headlines

Caught on camera: Shocking moment gang of teenage girls batter a couple unconscious during attack at train station

Two teenage girls given prison terms after they pleaded guilty in shocking beating of mentally disabled woman captured on video

Russian police seek to block shocking video of three teenage girls beating up another schoolgirl

No I meant being left out of beating other girls up. It was in bad taste.

I do agree that girls are now far more aggressive than they were years ago. Girls particularly in inner cities have to be as aggressive as boys to cope. Girls involvement in crime was rare but now it seems far more common place.