I want to poll the constituency about the ongoing scandal that so far has embroiled Harvey Weinstein, Charlie Rose, Matt Lauer, and a number of other show biz, media, and political figures of both political parties. What will its outcome be?
- Nothing lasting. It’s a flash in the pan. A 10 day wonder.
- It’s a fraud. A handful of women trying to exploit genuinely awful things that have happened to them to their advantage.
- It’s the long-overdue first step towards real reform.
- It’s the beginning of a Reign of Terror.
- It’s a pale version of what really needs to happen.
I think it’s a combination but the most likely are A, followed by D.
I’m going with A, the wrong people are being accused (e.g. Conyers, Franken, and future draft pick to be named) while the idealist wants to see C.
It’s none of the above. How can it be otherwise when it’s entirely a phenomenon of elite society?
I sort of feel like I’ll have a better sense of what is going on if Keillor’s accuser gives her side of the story, because he’s describing innocuous conduct. And while his statement includes a bit of tone-deafness, if his account is all we have, then I can see some reverse momentum. Or if there is no reverse momentum, we’ll be moving to a society where men and women need to be separated in professional arenas.
Partly though I think we’re seeing something in the entertainment, media, political realm that seems to have avoided changes in the workplace elsewhere. It seems like something to do with the power of celebrity, and competitive jobs that depend upon garnering influence, favors, referrals . . ..
A and C? Not sure that fits. I think PD gets it in that a lot of this more highly focused in specific industries/work areas. Those areas are catching up with everyone else, in a very visible way. This has also gone on at a lower level almost everywhere else. I think we will see some attempts to reform the entertainment industry and the political arena. Everywhere else already has nominal rules on this that are inconsistently enforced. Not sure we have a great way to stop this in cases where the differentials in power and/or money are too large.
Steve
I think we are entering a hysteria phase and also the phase where legitimate complaints will start to be replaced by people looking to score or settle old grievances, especially since any accusation currently results in getting immediately fired or blacklisted.
I think it will eventually die out. The pendulum will swing a bit too far, there will be a short period where everyone is hyper-aware/conscious/woke to this problem (due to self-preservation more than anything else) and then things will gradually drift back to the status quo as the underlying power dynamics reassert.
I also agree to an extent with Ben that this is an elite issue but that’s only because elites are the ones that make it into the news and the fame and publicity is the spear that skewers them. But these actions by powerful men (it’s mostly men) don’t just happen in elite society.
I agree that there are more revelations coming from entertainment, infotainment, and politics because the problems are graver in those areas. However, the people in those areas are really desperate to deflect scrutiny and so are attributing the same problems as exist within their own spheres to all spheres based on inadequate information. If they’re successful it sets up the pins for a situation in which every man is assumed guilty unless proven innocent, something we’ve been approaching by degrees.
Andy’s scenario is the one that results in A which I think is most likely. But IMO the second most likely continues to be D as described in the preceding paragraph.
I’d wager every single woman has been sexually harassed and/or assaulted at least once in her life. So what does that say about how many men sexually harass or assault women?
And I suspect that just about every man has sexually harassed or assaulted a woman once in his life, frequently under the influence of alcohol. Should that be a hanging offense?
In ameliorating the situation I’d say start with the serial offenders. Both men and women need to hold men to higher standards than theirs.
I’ll go for A and E, with C being desirable but unlikely. Too Bad.
I’ve nothing to argue with anyone commenting so far, but I’d add one thought — if this keeps up and spreads, we’ll be removing a hundred thousand or maybe a couple of million first-class jerks from the American ruling class, who will have to be replaced by people who are (mostly) less thuggish. Not that it’ll get rid of ALL the clowns we can do without, but it’d be an improvement. Society and government would probably be better run, manners might improve, and we’d likely all find life more bearable.
Since Pelosi has called for Conyer’s resignation according to the Rapid City Journal, it maybe time to start greasing the tumbril axles.
Heh, the things that generate comments.
Everyone has made interesting points. I’d note women use their looks as weapons, too. Back when I was running a small business we had a female salesperson who was a looker. Now how do you sell industrial gas? My argon is better than yours? On sales calls she managed to strategically show a little leg. She was a top producer. Fair? Right? No. Flirty? Yes. Effective? Yes. I hope there wasn’t more to it………..
When I worked in Florida nearly all the drug reps were women and nearly all of them had large assets and dressed to show them off.
Steve
The Ruling Class generally gets aways with a lot of things that put us in jail. The pedophilia scandals in Hollywood and Washington are pending, but might not happen. But something has changed. Fernandez at the Belmont Club attributes it to Trump destroying the inhibitions. But I think Trump’s election is merely a sign that enough people have rejected the legitimacy of the Ruling Class that they are now vulnerable.
However, you have to note that the great majority of the men accused are Jews. This probably means nothing because the great majority of the dominant men in the media and Hollywood are Jews. But the Tribe protects its own, and it will shut these scandals down if it can.
Tumbril huh? Gotta get one of those.