A large part of the fallout from the Columbine High School massacre is the age old pretense that we have it so bad, and no generation had it as bad as we do.

Of course, people have been saying this since the dawn of time. In what has become a very tired cliche at nearly every high school graduation, a student gives a speech which includes words decrying the younger generation--only to reveal that the message was written by Socrates.

Sad to say, the good ol' days weren't all that good. If kids weren't necessarily shot down in cold blood at school, they were surely dying of polio, influenza, and all sorts of childhood diseases in years past.

What about movie violence? It was ALWAYS with us, from the earliest days. One can argue that it is more explicit and graphic now, but in their time, crime flicks, war pics, and the uncensored version of King Kong (1933) replete with four sailors being eaten alive by giant spiders, were harsh indeed.

For sheer voyeuristic, lurid implied violence thrills, no film made holds a candle to Freaks (1932). For those aware of the plot, the film's original ending showed Hercules singing soprano in Madame Tetralini's new sideshow, but due to intense test audience reactions this scene was cut. Is castration violent enough for you?

While my knowledge of pop music history is certainly not all encompassing, I am confident that the equivalent of a Marilyn Manson could be found in any generation. Remember, we are not comparing the artists, or the repertoire, we are comparing the IMPACT that the artist or work had in its own time. WE may not be shocked by earlier efforts, but the contemporary audiences may well have been.

How about politicians? I'm cynical enough to believe that they were always corrupt. Bill Clinton will never match Caligula, and our questionable foray into the Balkans pales next to WWI and its overpraised big brother, WWII.

What about morality and spirituality? Sorry, folks, but those were always in short supply. If things were so great in ancient times, why did St. Paul have to write all those epistles scolding and encouraging the early church members? But still, even in times of moral turpitude, there was also great holiness. Rodrigo Borgia may have bought the papacy in 1492, but this era also produced some of the greatest saints in history.

There will always be a snake oil salesman close at hand, with the latest "cure," whether it be a government program, another drug, or a blue ribbon commission. Before we blame all sorts of external factors for the current state of affairs, or even the current state of ourselves, we had best look in the mirror.

Glorification of the past is just one more method that humans use to cope. Don't buy into it.