A lack of civility

The Providence Journal: Fistfights between players and fans at a professional basketball game -- brawls at youth and high-school contests -- road rage and political character assassination: Where do the anger and ruthlessness come from?
In a country where "values" is all the rage (so to speak), we wonder what has become of the core value of calm rationality, in which our minds control our emotions.
There is no single cause for the alarming lack of civility that pervades our society. But is too much violence on television, in the movies, and in sports a major factor? If so, then remember that television sets come with an "off" button, and that we still have the choice of not going to a bad movie.
While it's comforting to long for the "good old days," progress, or at least change, is inevitable -- and it comes with tradeoffs. Less censorship means more freedom -- heightening the risk of offending someone. The convenience of the Internet and the automobile means time spent at the computer or encased in a speeding metal pod -- at the expense of relaxing with a book or visiting a friend.
Lessons in civility?
Measured time, that man-made concept, is increasingly compressed by the species that invented it. We micro-manage our children to a fare-thee-well, but are we giving them lessons in civility?
If we yearn so much for the past, maybe we need a more rational way of dealing with our current environment. Maybe we haven't yet discovered machinery to replace our older engines of civility, but along with using the TV's "off" button, we should tone down our own volume.
Perhaps what we're seeking is a commonly held set of values that make our world understandable: an informal code of conduct, if you will, that could be embraced by Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, the religious and the non-religious -- and, yes, professional athletes. Forbearance, patience and respect would be a start in that direction.
While we're on the subject of courtesy, we see that the video's been released of Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts, the television series from the 1950s and '60s. In the programs, Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic take youngsters and their parents on journeys through the worlds of classical music. The audience's overall comportment points up what is all too missing in today's society: a note of grace.