What the hell
Edition 42: Reflections on morality in the modern world
I’ve always been pretty good at exams: my brain has the capacity to upload a lot of information for a short amount of time, and then let it all wash away into the ether. Everything I ever learned about maths and law have pretty much evaporated at this point.
But there was one exam at university that really stumped me. I sat in the exam hall sweating, watching minutes tick past, as I tried to wrap my head around how to answer the questions to my Jurisprudence final. This was not a typical exam: the questions required in-depth critical examination of complex enquiries like “what is moral law?” and my overly efficient brain was short circuiting with the effort — where I could usually sort through the filing cabinet of my grey matter and access “the right answer”, in this case there was no such thing. I had drifted through the teaching of the theory of law up to that point, reading strange philosophical texts in lowly lit libraries that explored the murky space that exists between morals and law. The most tangible thing I had taken away from the months of seminars was that my professor was a self proclaimed “fruitarian” (eating only things that voluntarily dropped from plants), and he would pace across the lecture hall with such vigor throughout his teaching that it was like witnessing an Olympic swimmer pushing themselves off at either end, gaining velocity with every turn.
Somehow, I managed to pass that exam, and ironically the hard-to-grasp concepts that course made me tackle have stayed with me long after the case law has disappeared. And lately, I have been coming back to this question of what compass we should as humans adhere to.
Living in the US right now — as someone who did not vote for Donald Trump and finds almost everything he says and does offensive and disturbing — is tiring. Frightening, often. I am bearing the least of these attacks, as a middle class white woman. I see the strain in friends who’s jobs and funding are being cut; who’s countries and citizens are being talked about as if they are commodities; who’s livelihoods are put in danger by Nazi symbolism being encouraged at the highest and most public level. In kids who’s very identity is being denied.
The thing I find saddest and most shocking is Trump’s commitment to selfish destruction and doing harm to others, and the willingness of entire systems — public and private — to kowtow so quickly to this bullying. Lawyers are frantically advising CEOs to remove wording that might get them in trouble with the dictator king. Federally funded institutions are stifling communications and changing web copy to stay under the radar. Freedom of speech be damned: we can’t afford to speak up if it costs us money. Meanwhile, the White House can offend nations and humiliate millions of people with impunity.
Of course, Adolf Musk would have us believe that all this chaos is in the name of saving billions of dollars. Efficiency first. Whether you believe his claims or not, even before the Trump invasion, it has become abundantly clear that adherence to market forces alone is not an adequate strategy to help the America’s economy and its people thrive.
Natalie Foster gives us the facts in her new book The Guarantee: “Free market policies not only failed to produce more healthy growth overall, they also significantly increased income inequality. Research shows that the top 1%’s share of total income doubled from 7% in 1979 to just under 15% in 2021… In addition to exacerbating inequality, free market policies were also terrible for the majority of workers. Since the early 1980s, most new jobs have been low-wage jobs, and social mobility declined.”
Trickle down economics by its very nature relies on the rich people making sure their wealth actually makes it down through the system. I think their plan is to lay off thousands of government workers and pray that that money somehow ends up employing them at a low wage in some private business that is run by a billionaire who pays little to no tax? And because there are no checks or balances on ensuring diversity, equity and inclusion for hiring, you better hope that that billionaire isn’t a misogynistic, racist megalomaniac who’s only concerned with protecting his own property and privileges. Oops.
I hear it time and time again in the work that I do: we have to justify work that is good for people and the environment on business terms. What’s the ROI of that? How can I justify it to the Chief Financial Officer? I get it; budgets are tight and avoiding layoffs comes before philanthropy. But I can’t shake the feeling that this attitude is missing a fundamental fact of human civilization: at some point, moral judgement must play a part in our decision making, to avoid us all turning back into savages. Just because that market likes something, doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do economically or on a human level.
I also take exception to the argument that “strong leadership” requires a leader to be rude and unkind. Having a fundamentally good character — i.e. adhering to a basic moral code of of decent human behavior, like not constantly lying and not considering yourself above the law — does not make you a weak leader. I have heard from many people in relation to both Trump and Boris Johnson (who ruined the UK by using Brexit as his route to power): Oh, but they are funny, and they’re willing to say it like it is, people relate to that. F**k that. Being disrespectful and saying dangerous things like proposing Gaza become an American owned holiday resort is not bravery and it is not authenticity. It is gross and reckless.
So, what does this have to do with my skinny Jurisprudence professor? It’s ironic really: I am a complete atheist and yet all the Bible stories and fairytales that seeped into my youth from school assembly led me to believe that there is a higher moral order to the universe. The tortoise deserved to win the race. Kindness will be rewarded. Heaven and hell are distortions — I hope (sorry for the sex before marriage and drugs and stuff, God!) — of our need to strive for goodness, because that virtue radiates out and comes back around, like a spiritual boomerang, patting us on the back when we most need it. You never know when you will need a neighbor to step in when your safety net is broken; whether that means lending money when things are tight or simply checking in and dropping off soup when we’ve been sick. Because thinking of others is better than being out for ourselves and all alone.
Of course, in my opinion (based on several patchy months of study 20 years ago) morality is not set in stone — it is not the same as the written law. Thank goodness, we have the chance to keep evolving and keep pushing ourselves to reassess what we think is “good” or “worthy”; and make sure that all that virtue is extended to everyone, and is eventually protected by written laws so that attacks on those moral values and rights can be defended against and have consequences.
I’m banging on about morality here but I am well aware that I — like everyone else — am far from perfect. I have hurt people (emotionally), fired people from their jobs, chosen to sit at home instead of attend a protest. I slept with people I didn’t really like in my teens. I shout too much as a parent. I get frustrated easily, especially when I’m trying to leave the house on time with the entire family. I have had periods of drinking too much, and used to smoke quite a bit. I eat Nutella out of the pot in my forties when the kids are at school. I have never been to therapy so I’m not officially “working on myself” when there is plenty of work to do. I can be selfish and petulant, especially if I’m tired.
But the aspiration to be better is important, surely? Ever more so, when you scale up our individual actions and give them the power of public institutions. What people say and do matters; so does being able to say you’re sorry, or admit that a decision was hard because it will harm some people while benefiting others.
I think I’m saying, let’s not give up on morality. Let’s keep aspiring to be better as humans, and expecting that from our leaders — even if they fail sometimes, as they inevitably will. Those failures will look different in every instance: not following through on promises you made on the campaign trail for some; getting a blow job with an intern in the Oval Office for others. Yikes. We shouldn’t let politicians get away with these infractions, because we should hold them to a higher standard. We shouldn’t be content to let our leaders threaten Senators to turn on trans students for fear of losing federal funding; to call Mexican people rapists; to blame plane crashes on DEI hiring policies; to let an unelected advisor do a Nazi salute on a podium at the Inauguration; to grab women by the pussy and gloat about it. I think I’m saying, let’s not let harm and unkindness be the norm, even if the bankers like it and the Supreme Court lets it happen.
Anyhoo. Joy and fun is a form of resistance; at least, that’s what I heard Jordan Stephens from Rizzle Kicks in a recent interview in the UK. When you’re not calling your Senator and local Representative and organizing and protesting, find the joy — make art, sing, paint, write, dance, laugh, and turn up the music really loud.
On that note, I’ll see you at Tubbys later! Local musicians — and generally kind, funny, thoughtful people — Sam Cohen and Kyle Forester will be playing, and I intend to enjoy every second.