The Decline of Deviance 2

photo cred: my dadIn The Decline of Deviance, I argued that:Many forms of risk-taking and rule-breaking have declined since the 1990s.This is both good (less crime) and bad (less innovation).Deviance is declining because prosperity has increased—people have more to lose, and they’re acting like it.Since I put it out last October, this has become my most-read post of all time. Lots of folks have chimed in with hypotheses, critiques, and good old-fashioned internet dunks, so let’s see if we can take this idea one level deeper, and weave something out of all these loose threads.That’s right: we’re doing a sequel to the post about how there are too many sequels.THE KIDS STOPPED SMOKING AND NOBODY CAREDThe most common response I got was: “how awful!”(The trends, not the post itself, although that too sometimes.)To most folks, the decline of deviance is a turn for the worst. Previous generations got to live through artistic golden ages, while we have to suffer through an era where there are…