Travis Cantrell | Qualms with hooking up

It is a well-known fact that this country’s morals are degrading at a faster rate than ever these days. With a shaky economic climate, rising unemployment and a seemingly constant string of costly military endeavors, it is no big wonder that many are becoming disillusioned with the moral consistency that is the foundation of this country. While evidence for this tragic fall from grace can be found by just turning on the television, this moral ineptitude truly embodies itself in today’s hook-up culture.

Recently, our generation has drifted away from the sanctity of monogamy in favor of quick, non-sequitur and, ultimately, meaningless physical interactions with our preferred sex — or, as it’s commonly known on the street, “hooking up.” While previous generations talked, dated and married, ours generally just talks, drinks and hooks up.

Although marriages can materialize from these interactions, their longevity is often volatile. According to divorcerate.org, a legitimate-sounding source for all things divorce, 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce (with the other half ending in death). We can see how the instability so frequently found within our homes — the ultimate product of this hook-up culture — affects this country’s morality by examining its recent hardships.

The most recent economic hardships have most commonly been attributed to the breaking up and trading of knowingly unsustainable loans, with traders continually passing on along the burden in exchange for a quick buck. Our military entrance into an oil-rich Iraq was justified by the perpetuation of a now well-known lie; that is, that Iraq was harboring weapons of mass destruction. The largest environmental disaster in the last century, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has mainly been attributed to the British oil giant’s cutting of corners in safety and regulatory practices in a rush to get the rig operating, procuring oil and, with it, money.

The impulsive and single-minded nature in which we work toward securing our next hook-up is eerily similar to the greediness for profits and immediate returns that reigns supreme in both the political and business worlds.

Is there a connection? While many in the fields of science and psychology refuse to comment on the issue, undoubtedly in fear of losing sponsorships from well-known science funding organizations like Victoria’s Secret and Plan B, one renowned scientist — Phil McGraw — might think there is. The connection between the prevalence of the random hook up in our generation and this country’s current morality deprivation might just be responsible for causing Dr. Phil to believe that “we’re in the biggest teen crisis in the history of this country.”

Before I am dubbed a judgmental bastard whose new haircut makes him look like he just underwent an elective forehead-lengthening surgery, I have a confession to make: I, too, used to seek out these hookups. I would tell stories to my friend about my various exploits, exaggerating the amount of hooking up that went on and downplaying the part about it actually not happening at all. I lived day-to-day, constantly on the prowl for interested females. But not anymore. I have seen the flaws in my ways.

Today’s America should reflect on itself. Do we want to live in a country where people are having hot anonymous sex all the time? Do we want to live in a country that embraces and glorifies the one-night stand hook-up culture?

Peers, do we want our generation to remain under the shadow of casual encounters? Do we want to continue to lead the country toward oncoming decline at the hands of immorality?

I don’t know about you guys, but I sure as hell don’t want to learn Chinese. I tried once with a lesson from the inside of a fortune cookie and my mouth cramped up. If we don’t get our act together soon, our country’s debt to China will suffocate us. Say goodbye to the DOW and hello to General Tso.

I want to see this country be successful. I want to see peace and bipartisan cooperation. These things can only be achieved upon foundations of honesty and integrity. Penn’s hook-up culture creates a people infected with greediness and impulsiveness. If perpetuated, this culture has the potential to spoil our generation and, through it, our country’s future.

I love my country and I want to see it rebound and return to its full glory. I do not want to perpetuate the immorality. And that is why I did not get any action this weekend.

Travis Cantrell is a College junior from Glenmoore, Pa. His email address is tcant@sas.upenn.edu. Penn, Paper, Farce appears every other Tuesday.

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