Gene Autry's Cowboy Code was a set of guidelines that influenced me and
my older brothers. It was something a young cowboy could always use in
a pinch.
We fuss a lot over specific decisions and choices, such as, "What should I buy?" or "Who should I pick?" and less time learning the guidelines that would serve any-and-all decisions. Our consumer culture is partly to blame; we want the benefits of outside experts. But this generally comes from faceless sources that we have to return to at each new decision point.
I think earlier generations relied more on codes of behavior and patterns of thinking that became part of who they were.
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Gene Autry's bio.
