Could it be that these two factoids are related?

In the NYT we read this:

Senior Official Offers to Quit in Mumbai Attacks

MUMBAI, India — With an anguished Indian public angrily questioning government leaders in the wake of the deadly terror attacks on Mumbai, the leader of the state government offered to step down on Monday.

The chief minister of Maharashtra State, Vilasrao Deshmukh, a member of the governing Congress party, said at a press conference that he was accepting “moral responsibility” for the attacks. Party leaders were considering his offer to resign. Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra State.

Earlier in the day, his deputy, R.R. Patil, officially stepped down. Mr. Patil’s departure and Mr. Deshmukh’s offer came a day after the country’s top domestic security official, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, resigned in disgrace over the failure to thwart or quickly contain the horrific attacks that left at least 188 dead.

How many US government officials, at any level, offered to resign after 9/11?  Admittedly, our government doesn't have this as a cultural aspect, unlike the Brits, and, seemingly, the Indians, who's government was shaped by the Brits in ways different from ours.

But one also wonders, when reading this bit about student ethics, whether our moral relativism and (to me) excessive indulgence of self-esteem hasn't caused some real rot, too.

Students lie, cheat, steal, but say they're good
David Crary, Ap National Writer – NEW YORK – In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to a new, large-scale survey suggesting that Americans are too apathetic about ethical standards.

Educators reacting to the findings questioned any suggestion that today's young people are less honest than previous generations, but several agreed that intensified pressures are prompting many students to cut corners.

"The competition is greater, the pressures on kids have increased dramatically," said Mel Riddle of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "They have opportunities their predecessors didn't have (to cheat). The temptation is greater."
 

Heh.  I dunno.  A quick search (very quick, I'm headed to the airport shortly for a trip to visit alphabet agencies in the DC area this week) didn't produce much data for earlier generations of students on this topic, so it's hard to make a comparison among the generations, just as I'm probably guiltly of making a correlation is causation error in linking the two things.  Still, culture matters.


I'm the one calling for more General officer scalps, after all.

Michael Josephson, the institute's founder and president, said he was most dismayed by the findings about theft. The survey found that 35 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls — 30 percent overall — acknowledged stealing from a store within the past year. One-fifth said they stole something from a friend; 23 percent said they stole something from a parent or other relative.

"What is the social cost of that — not to mention the implication for the next generation of mortgage brokers?" Josephson remarked in an interview. "In a society drenched with cynicism, young people can look at it and say 'Why shouldn't we? Everyone else does it.'"

Hey, after all, oral sex isn't sex, not really.  A President taught us that.

Forty-two percent said they sometimes lie to save money — 49 percent of the boys and 36 percent of the girls.

That one I'm guessing the IRS could confirm got passed directly from their parents...

Here's the really depressing part - and the source for my snark about excessive indulgence of self-esteem:

Despite such responses, 93 percent of the students said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character, and 77 percent affirmed that "when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.

If that's how they view the world about them - well, perhaps we've got problems in River City.  Of course, absent comparative data from previous generations, it's hard ot gauge the extent.

Now Nijmie Dzurinko, executive director of the Philadelphia Student Union, observed that the findings were not at all reflective of the inner-city students she works with.

"A lot of people like to blame society's problems on young people, without recognizing that young people aren't making the decisions about what's happening in society," said Dzurinko, 32. "They're very easy to scapegoat."

And she's correct.  If there's a problem, it's with the adults and the standards and examples they set.  Hence the "oral sex" question, and the opener to this post.

Then there's Peter Anderson, principal of Andover High School in Massachusetts, as reported by David Crary of the AP.

"This generation is leading incredibly busy lives — involved in athletics, clubs, so many with part-time jobs, and — for seniors — an incredibly demanding and anxiety-producing college search."

Heh.  Gosh, I was a football player, wrestler, and track and field jock.  I was on the speech and debate team.  And I managed to find a school to attend, too.  And, gosh, I worked in a nursery, hobby shop, restaurant, and a fast food joint, too, while in high school. But my parent's didn't let me work during the school year.  And my jockish activities were tied to academic performance.  And there is one thing I was really sure of - I didn't want to have any meetings at school where my parents were dragged in over an allegation of cheating.  Oddly enough, my reaction to that wasn't one of... "So, I better not get caught, then!" 

Heh.  There isn't anything wrong with the kids that isn't a result of the environment we, as adults, have created for them.   I would note that a significant number of parents have made that connection, too - hence the popularity of home schooling.

Which is a rational response to an individual situation, but one that leaves the larger picture unaltered.

So, how did we respond to 9/11?  Well, let's see.  The Director of the CIA got the Presdidential Medal of Freedom...

Okay - you may commence firing.