Excusing Bad Behavior

I saw two articles today about enabling bad behavior. One was a New York Times story about people talking on cell phones & taking photos during live theatre performances. One line stuck out: "...some suggest that an emphasis on behavioral restrictions is a form of off-putting elitism."

The other was a City Journal article about the homelessness squalor in San Francisco and the excuses that are made for it: "The city enables the entire homeless lifestyle, not just drug use. Free food is everywhere. Outreach workers roam the city, handing out beef jerky, crackers, and other snacks. At the encampment across from Glide Memorial Church, a wiry man in a blue denim jacket announces that day’s lunch selection at the church’s feeding line, to general approbation: fried chicken. He triumphantly brandishes a half-eaten leg before tossing it into the street. Susan, a 57-year-old Canadian who lives in an encampment on Willow Alley, itemizes the available bounty while rolling a cigarette: free dinners and movies; the microwave ovens at Whole Foods; free water at Starbucks. The homeless position themselves outside coffee shops in the morning for handouts of pastries and java. If those handouts don’t materialize, there’s always theft. A barista at the Bush and Van Ness Starbucks says that someone steals food and coffee at least every other day. 'We are not allowed to do anything about it,' she says. 'The policy is we can’t chase them.'  The combination of maximal tolerance for antisocial behavior, on the one hand, and free services and food, on the other, acts as a magnet."

There seems to be way too much "maximal tolerance" these days for behavior that would not have been tolerated years ago.  Since when are common courtesy and manners considered "off-putting elitism", and since when is going to the bathroom on public streets seen as acceptable? Why should volunteers clean up after your filth? Why shouldn't you expect other theatregoers to watch respectfully when you pay to see a play or a movie? What's wrong with good behavior, anyway?