A timely article, well written. I have some unorganised and half-constructed thoughts on Shame as a useful tool in support of societal cohesion, insofar as curtailing the alienation we experience in the modern social setting. A boss in the office feels no shame firing the worker and making them destitute because there are layers of bureaucracy acting as a shield. The consumer of fast fashion feels no shame because the makers of their garments are far away and the abuse they suffer is obfuscated by corporate PR campaigns. The billionaire feels no shame in exploiting the labour of others to amass a fortune unfathomable to you and I because they are raised in a system where wealth and power are positive attributes unto themselves, instead of a shameful and abhorrent moral disease.
A new application of Shame would do us well. Not to punish and ostracise those that make choices about how they look, how they live or how they love, but to bring shame upon those that do a social and moral harm; that seek to disrupt community cohesion. In my humble opinion, seeking and holding power over others is a moral failing, and deserves to be shamed.
Thank you for your thought-out and attractive comment!
Yeah definitely - upholding wealth as a point of pride is baffling to me.
Amassing so much wealth that it hurts and disadvantages others should be seen as what it is - gluttony. But you're right. Everyday people have mechanisms place to remove ourselves from the abuse we contribute to. Out of sight, out of mind.
And of course, people at the top are very much aware of the abuse but don't care.
Andrew Tate, whenever he's called out for any moral failing, consistently defaults to using 'but I have 7000 lamborghinis' as an argument for why he's superior to others. His image of himself is entirely dependent on having money.
My theory is, if what gives you pride exists outside yourself, it's probably not a good thing to be deriving pride from.
Literally this could make it as a published article in any print or online publication - you write so SO well. Your posts are always so full of insight and relatability that it’s impossible to not enjoy reading it! 💖
😭 Thank you so much for the kind words! I don’t know, I waffle on a bit. It’s a competitive field, but I would like to look into ways of doing that. For now though, I like the immediacy of Substack; I can write it and publish it ASAP! Thank you again for reading’
A timely article, well written. I have some unorganised and half-constructed thoughts on Shame as a useful tool in support of societal cohesion, insofar as curtailing the alienation we experience in the modern social setting. A boss in the office feels no shame firing the worker and making them destitute because there are layers of bureaucracy acting as a shield. The consumer of fast fashion feels no shame because the makers of their garments are far away and the abuse they suffer is obfuscated by corporate PR campaigns. The billionaire feels no shame in exploiting the labour of others to amass a fortune unfathomable to you and I because they are raised in a system where wealth and power are positive attributes unto themselves, instead of a shameful and abhorrent moral disease.
A new application of Shame would do us well. Not to punish and ostracise those that make choices about how they look, how they live or how they love, but to bring shame upon those that do a social and moral harm; that seek to disrupt community cohesion. In my humble opinion, seeking and holding power over others is a moral failing, and deserves to be shamed.
Thank you for your thought-out and attractive comment!
Yeah definitely - upholding wealth as a point of pride is baffling to me.
Amassing so much wealth that it hurts and disadvantages others should be seen as what it is - gluttony. But you're right. Everyday people have mechanisms place to remove ourselves from the abuse we contribute to. Out of sight, out of mind.
And of course, people at the top are very much aware of the abuse but don't care.
Andrew Tate, whenever he's called out for any moral failing, consistently defaults to using 'but I have 7000 lamborghinis' as an argument for why he's superior to others. His image of himself is entirely dependent on having money.
My theory is, if what gives you pride exists outside yourself, it's probably not a good thing to be deriving pride from.
Literally this could make it as a published article in any print or online publication - you write so SO well. Your posts are always so full of insight and relatability that it’s impossible to not enjoy reading it! 💖
😭 Thank you so much for the kind words! I don’t know, I waffle on a bit. It’s a competitive field, but I would like to look into ways of doing that. For now though, I like the immediacy of Substack; I can write it and publish it ASAP! Thank you again for reading’