It was. But we all underestimated the extent to which Americans aren't really Americans anymore. The number of foreigners has been growing by leaps and bounds, with very few having any interest in our value system. It's having an effect.
Then there are people like clo who killed their brains in the '60s and have been living a life of selfishness and self-pity ever since. They never had values to begin with. clo-types are in thrall to liberal leaders and don't worry their little selves with wearisome things like "thinking." They just do as they're told while occasionally wondering why, year after year, their lives never improve.
Based on her family history, I'd guess that clo has perhaps a decade left. That's not long. But mark my words! She'll still be flummoxed, right up until the end, at how this happened to her, how her life went so wrong.
What does this have to do with the country not being civilized anymore? Plenty. There are a LOT of clos out there, and their liberal leaders are feeling emboldened. It's ironic that they feel this way even as the Democratic Party is in disarray, never before being in such a great position to capitalize on Republican weakness, yet utterly incapable. All they can do is to lash out with their zombie-like army hoping that it wins them some converts. So far, I don't think it's working.
I used to talk about 'The Marching Morons' (a C.M. Kornbluth story.) That was fiction, but we're seeing them for real today. They're the Democrats.