[CanisLupusArctos]

I still think the increased boating problems (i.e. Capt. Bonehead) that we're seeing on this lake are just one manifestation of a society-wide problem made of materialism, greed, and loss of respect for others.

Going through elementary school in the 1980s (in the Boston area) I remember a lot of emphasis on respect for others. I had teachers as late as high school who drilled it into us that if you worked hard and achieved success but you weren't nice, you were still going to sit in detention with the usual punks.

Now I have various friends whose kids are going to elementary school and have neighbors whose kids are in high school, and they're being taught that 'getting ahead' is everything. Step on toes if you have to, anything to get ahead. What's out there is yours for the taking and if you work hard, you deserve it, so go get it.

Respect for others? That's a quaint idea we don't practice anymore, because it gets in the way. Respect has been replaced by this other thing called "tolerance" whose main focus is 'don't offend people who are different from you.' The respect that my class learned in the 80s was to be extended to all people, whether they were different or the same. We had minorities join our class over the years, and nobody thought anything of it because we were never taught about differences; we were just taught to respect others no matter what.

The real 'gotcha' in this? All this much change, in just 20 years. I didn't think I'd be talking like this ("When I was a boy...") until I had gray hair. But things are changing so fast. Even 5 years ago was noticeably different from today.

As it stands now, greed/arrogance and the "get ahead at all costs" mentality is becoming a disease. The song by Nickleback "We all just wanna be big rock stars..." (which we can hear on WLNH at least once a day) reflects this new culture we have.

And if we are all big rock stars (in our heads, if nowhere else), we can ignore other people as we drive around the lake in our rock-star boats, behaving like Britney, Lindsay, and Paris as we flip off all the "inferior" boaters around us. After all, we worked hard, so we deserve this vacation.

Now if only the politicians would catch on. Too bad they're busy catering to it instead. Listen to speeches made by either party, and there's a huge focus on "Ask what your country can do for you! If you elect me President, your country will do more for you!"

Therefore I feel this mentality, not lack of laws, is the real problem. Both parties are making it worse. Today's Republican Party too often approaches problems by saying "There is no problem" while the Democrats say "More laws can fix this problem."

Nobody looks at the fact that the condition of the human heart is what needs changing, and that can only happen if we start teaching "respect for others comes before material gain for yourself" once more. This, I believe, would solve our lake boating problems, and probably many more.