The Rise of Incivility.

Incivility seemed to penetrate every aspect of American life during the 1990s. A survey conducted in February 1996 by U S News & World Report and Bozell Worldwide revealed that 90 percent of Americans believed incivility in speech and conduct was a serious social problem. Seventy-eight percent of respondents thought that the problem had worsened during the 1990s, and more than 84 percent saw in incivility evidence of social disorder portending crisis and collapse. The poll concluded that a vast majority of Americans felt themselves embattled, and perhaps imperiled, in their personal and professional lives by the rising tide of vulgarity, discourtesy, and inconsideration. Many Americans came to believe that the real issue underlying bad manners was the loss of a basic sense of respect for others. "You cannot have a complex society in which you do not hear the other party, the antagonist," explained...