Some Good

I suppose it started with the Weinstein scandal, the veritable tsunami of news concerning the sexual harassment, and worse, of women (and sometimes men), especially by men in positions of power. I've seen it suggested that this might mark a tipping point and that such behaviour will become a thing of the past. I hope so, but, frankly, doubt so, at one and the same time.

It seems oddly naïve to suggest that we've suddenly discovered such behaviour is morally repugnant and, therefore, our collective disapproval will lead to its sudden demise. The suggestion that somehow the social mores of the 1970s and 1980s were lax enough to render such behaviour acceptable is nonsense. I remember those times well enough to know that what Weinstein got up would have been seen by the general populace at that time as being just as disgusting as it appears to right-minded people today. Similarly the argument that it was somehow more acceptable then for older men to prey on youngsters and sexually exploit them doesn't fit at all with the world I remember.

It seems to me that the difference between the eras lies in the fact that it so much easier now than it used to be to make such behaviour public, and thus bring down upon it the necessary condemnation. And there's obvious good in that.  But there's an equally obvious downside. Trial by Internet outrage is not likely to provide anything in the way of genuine justice. Some things do not change. Just as the capacity of our species, especially the male versions of it, to perpetrate horrendous levels of abuse on those seen as weaker is not likely to diminish any time soon, the need to achieve a version of justice through treating each case carefully on its merits and restraining any rush to judgment is crucial to any sense of achieving what is for the good.