“to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world”.
Aeschylus, born about 525 B.C, may well have inspired Epicurus with the above words – we don’t know. But we can say that we have to tame the savageness of mankind on a continual basis. Manners, consideration for others, generosity, kindness and empathy may all be hard-wired into many of us, but regrettably not into all. Every generation has to be tamed, knocked into shape, and instructed on how to relate to others; that is the job of parents (not just teachers, as some parents seem to think).
Is it my imagination, but are we being a bit less successful at making gentle the life of this world better than in prior years?
I think you are right, and the reason is that this generation is the offspring of parents who were immersed in the 60’s revolution. Freedom to do what you want; licence to please yourself; kick over societal conventions. There very well may be reasons for ‘loosening up societal conventions,” but this was soon followed by Thatcher’s “me” zeitgeist where every man is for himself etc. She sadly confirmed the strident, selfish attitudes.
I can’t speak for the USA , you didn’t have Thatcher, though she was very close to, and possibly influenced your president Reagan at the time, However, history teaches that, ‘things will swing back” and a generation will arise who rebels against this and then maybe Western society will ‘make gentle the life of this world’.