The Shifting Sands of Standards.

• Author: KREYCHE, GERALD F.
• Position: Brief Article

FEW PEOPLE have given much thought as to how standards enter and govern their lives--that is until the Florida presidential election posed the problem of chads. Various counties there hand-counted votes differently. For some, to be valid, a chad had to be totally disengaged from the ballot for the vote. Others accepted ballots with hanging chads, pregnant chads, dimpled chads, etc. Then, we realized the importance and necessity of standards.

The truth is that all of us are affected by standards every day in every walk of life, as there are moral standards, standards of mores or customs, scientific standards, etc. Some are absolute and precise, while others such as cultural norms are relative and evolving.

Few would question the near-constant flux of mores and moral standards. Divorce was frowned upon, if not actually regarded as a disgrace, no less than 50 years ago. Today, cohabitation virtually is the norm rather than exception for people who are considering marriage; indeed, for many not considering it. Legally, abortion is a woman's choice (in all but a few cases having no concern for the father's views).

Homosexuality was still closeted in those earlier times, whereas today, television, movies, and books deal with it euphemistically as another "lifestyle." Hollywood has come a long way (read, retrogressed) in encouraging looser morals. As the George and Ira Gershwin song had it, "In olden days, a glimpse of stocking was looked upon as something shocking, but now, heaven knows, anything goes." How true, as we now see navels, flanks, and bosoms displayed daily. Modern clothing often is more meant to reveal than conceal.

Government involvement

One major difference between today and yesteryear is the greater involvement of government in creating and enforcing standards in nearly all walks of life. Many of these regulations are for the common good; others, pure bureaucracy.

Recently, Washington issued standards by which one legitimately could advertise food as organic. Its latest ukase requires hospitals to focus on relieving patients' pain by having them assess this subjective, but real, condition on a scale of one to 10. Under threat of withholding highway funds, it is seeking to standardize the drunken driver blood test at .08 saturation. Supposedly, nearly 2,000,000 workers are employed in repetitive motion jobs such as typing and packing, resulting in carpal tunnel syndrome and other workplace complaints. This has prompted the...