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People Explain Which Things Were Once Highly Respected But Are Now Seen As A Complete Joke

person holding black smartphone taking photo of man in black shirt
person holding black smartphone taking photo of man in black shirt
Photo by Timek Life on Unsplash

In a world that keeps moving forward, many things change. People who seemed heroic fall from grace, inventions that were once useful are forgotten, and basic human rights are either ignored or taken for granted.

One way we've seen this happen is by thinking about all the people and things that were once highly respected that are now basically seen as a joke.


It all started when Redditor WildAnimus asked:

"What is something that was once highly respected but is now a complete joke?"

My Life As A Social Media Star

"Privacy. I know you're allowed to film pretty much everything, everywhere, all the time but do y'all really need to?"

– Reasonable-While-101

"And when you even mention that it's weird and rude to film people in public, a bunch of a**holes will jump all over you saying that "yOu HaVe No ExPeCtAtIoN oF pRiVaCy In PuBlIc". Like yeah, no one is saying you should go to jail or something, but could we all maybe try to respect one another a little more?"

– SchemeMoist

The High Offices

"Being US President"

– ral365

"I'll add being a Supreme Court Judge"

– p-terydatctyl

"I think this also extends to public office in general."

– joedotphp

Cheaters Never Prosper

"Lance Armstrong"

– ShakeyB2

"If he had admitted to use of steroids after the first accusation, I think people would have been a lot more forgiving. It’s the sh*t he did to his accusers that makes him a sh*t human"

– tjcoe4

"We sure found out how his arms got so strong."

– Zestyclose-Trash8556

The "News"

"Being a journalist. Said as someone who aspired to be one and am so thankful that I didn’t end up one."

– NarwhalSignificant22

"Journalism."

"Theres a reason we call it "The Media" and not "The News". The goal is no longer to inform, but to entertain."

– AlphaTangoFoxtrt

"It really is difficult to find a solution to the lack of real journalism. We got here because people would rather be entertained or enraged than informed."

– IErant

"Journalism. They were once defenders of the common man, seekers of truth and justice. Now they write bull sh*t about whatever is trending on f*cking Twitter and whatever propaganda the corporate overlords want them to push."

– NoseApprehensive5154

Inflation Will Do That

"Making 20 dollars an hour at your job"

– chronicsully91

"I remember thinking when I was younger “I’d be happy if I made 40k a year.” I make a lot more than that and am only just getting by."

– shocktard

"For my wife to be a stay-at-home mom like both of us want, I would have to make almost $40 an hour"

– Fyrrys

Don't Speak...Please

" Elon Musk. Man had a hell of a reputation for being a real-life Tony Stark. Then he started unraveling it all with the cave diver incident. (Your opinion may differ, the diver incident is when he went from "eh, he's cool I guess" to "he's a total jacka**" for me, at least.)"

"More recently he's completely tossed any shred of reputation he has by being a COVID denier, getting fully in bed with right wingers. being an utter sh*theel with the Ukraine war, and now his utter incompetence is fully on display with the Twitter takeover, taking a company that was previously doing just fine and tanking it in almost record time."

"(And of course, everything coming out about his legacy, like how he was let go from PayPal because he had no idea what the hell he was doing"

– We1tfunk

"Honestly I never really clicked onto just how much of a super villain he is until GTA online parodied him in their facilities DLC. Looking back, yeah it's a total likeness. A megalomaniac with all the money and a crazy tech start up plot to terrorise the world, and he gets foiled by a few weebs wearing a princess mask and body armour. It's the best metaphor for the 21st century I've ever witnessed actually"

– Flaky_Tumbleweed3598

Still Worth It?

"Netflix"

"Supposed to end the high cost cable, now its essentially just a channel you subscribe to"

– Yoshinoyachicken

"That was inevitable."

"What wasn't inevitable was cancelling every show before it even has a chance."

– Ender_Skywalker

"I blame all the studios pulling their shows to instead put them on their own crappy streaming service."

– kabukistar

"That's not Netflix's fault though. That is every single studio that exists thinking they can have their own paid service, after fighting tooth and nail against it for two decades. Netflix proved streaming works and now everyone wants Netflix's pie."

– SheriffBartholomew

"They did well and then HBO max happened and then everyone and their mother pulled their content for their own streaming service. Now you have 10 different subs with one or two shows worth watching and lots of sh*t"

– Kaizen420

Winner, Winner!

"The Academy Awards! I used to stay up late to watch the end & was so invested in the outcome!! For the past few years I haven't seen a single one of the nominated movies and feel so "meh" about the whole thing."

– lialoren

"I think the Academy Awards and the Grammies are in the same boat. People have woken up to the fact that the awards are rigged and who wants to watch that? It's a shame really."

– BasicB*tchBarb

"The veil has been lifted on most award shows. The more they try to compensate and include people who aren't attached to big studios the more they realize those people could care less about their award shows."

"The awards shows seem to be nothing more than big-name artists showing face to represent their studio. The shows are starting to see the flaw in their business model. You cant give awards to people who don't respect the award and you can't get someone to respect the award unless it's profitable."

"If the award doesn't get more eyes on your art or you aren't working on the next project participating in the show doesn't help you."

– Pencilowner

Teach Me Tonight

"Working in a school"

– Intelligent_Case_809

"Soon to be former teacher, this one absolutely rings true in my experience. I will have only been in it for 3 years, I have no idea how anyone in their right minds would make a career out it considering the current state of education"

– Verifiable_Human

That is completely tragic!

Do you have anything to add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.

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