Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay
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I will respond to questions and comments as time permits, but if you want to take issuewith any position expressed here, you first have to answer this question:
What evidence would it take to prove your beliefs wrong?
I simply will not reply to challenges that do not address this question. Refutabilityis one of the classic determinants of whether a theory can be called scientific. Moreover,I have found it to be a great general-purpose cut-through-the-crap question to determinewhether somebody is interested in serious intellectual inquiry or just playing mind games.Note, by the way, that I am assuming the burden of proof here - all youhave to do is commit to a criterion for testing.It's easy to criticize science for being "closed-minded". Are you open-mindedenough to consider whether your ideas might be wrong?
Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged, pictures a dystopian alternative future, stuck about 1960 in terms of technology, in which the innovative members of society, fed up with taxation and bureaucratic micromanagement, simply quit. Many of them retreat to a secret community headed up by the legendary John Galt.
Although Atlas Shrugged is a popular fantasy among economic conservatives, it just won't happen. Because John Galt is someone's boss. That means people defer to him. He gets privileges. He has status. He has a vigorous sex life. Let John Galt go off and live in Galt's Gulch - and do what? Spend his days whittling on the front porch? There are thousands of people in middle management who want his job. Dealing with bureaucracy would be a small price to pay for the perks of leadership. Every CEO whining about proposals to cap executive compensation has at least a hundred underlings waiting for a shot at his job. Because he gets to tell people what to do. And let's not forget the insight of Henry Kissinger: "power is the ultimate aphrodisiac."
There are far more people who want to do creative work for a living than there are jobs to support them. They would gladly step in to fill the gap if all the top creative people left. And, for the most part, they would be just as good. So sure, all the recording artists quit? There are thousands of garage bands itching to take their place.American Idol shows there are all kinds of unknown people out there who can become superstars in short order. Jennifer Hudson, who didn't even win, has become a big star. All the Hollywood actors quit? Do you have the remotest idea how many "stars that never was are parking cars and pumping gas?" If all the research scientists go on strike there are thousands of scientists teaching at less prestigious colleges who would gladly take their place. Just working at what you love doing is reward enough, if there's public acclaim and more money, too, that's icing on the cake.
No, when Atlas shrugs, it's more subtle. John Galt stays on the job. He just quits upholding standards. Because there are no rewards for upholding standards, and he can enjoy all the pleasures of ignoring them.
To hear some people tell it, the world before, say, 1965, was one of purity and chastity. There was no rape, no infidelity, no unwed mothers. Well, actually there was, it was just clandestine. If rape victims spoke out, they often got little sympathy from the police, and the rapist often had friends willing to testify in court that the victim was promiscuous. If the victim was lower in social class than the attacker, her chances were miniscule, and even if the victim won, she suffered deep social stigma. Victims of sexual harassment had little choice but to suffer in silence. Gays stayed in the shadows. Meanwhile, there were still laws on the books that regulated what even married couples were allowed to do. Good riddance. The best thing about the good old days is that they're over. Far from being an oasis of purity, the pre-sexual revolution world was a cesspool.
When comedian Pat Paulsen "ran" for President in 1968 on the Smothers Brothers show, one of his speeches called for "taking sex out of the schools and back into the motels." He got a laugh because he skewered just what a hollow facade American sexual morality was. But even more revealing, when the Sexual Revolution came, the old morality didn't merely crumble, it popped like a soap bubble. And it happened across all demographics, not just the young.
John and Jane Galt quickly figured out "If I stick with the old ways, I don't get any sex at all until I'm married. Then I get to have sex with only one person, and if that doesn't work out, it's a mess to get out of it." Meanwhile everybody else seemed to be having fun. There seemed to be all sorts of advantages to abandoning traditional morality, very few to sticking with it, and once there were enough people to encourage or condone sexual freedom, people deserted the old morality in droves. A few joined free love communes, most simply started engaging in extramarital sex. When they did marry, many didn't see much of a problem in dabbling on the side, and if the marriage didn't prove satisfying, the old stigma against divorce evaporated as well. Needless to say, they were in no position to chastise their kids for experimenting, living together, and having babies out of wedlock.
The most stark illustration of the collapse of the old moral order is the tawdry personal morality of "conservatives." Sexual misbehavior among televangelists has become a cliche. Monsignor McGrouchy, who used to give the slightest sexual peccadilloes a tongue lashing in confession, turns out to have been having sex with the altar boys even as he was posturing as a pillar of rectitude. It's gotten to the point where people take it for granted that conservative religious leaders are hypocrites about sex, and merely using their rigid mores as a cover for private misconduct. Political figures who stand firm against abortion are exposed as having gotten abortions for their mistresses. Those who loudly object to gay rights are caught trolling for gay sex in public rest rooms.
The Sexual Revolution was sort of a national rumspringa, the Amish tolerance of adolescent rebellion. Just as most Amish youth who go through rumspringa return to their roots, the reality is that most people in American society follow traditional mores. They may experiment before marriage, may stray more than they did in 1955, and more opt for divorce than in 1955, but the appeal of traditional marriage is that it offers stability, support, security, and partnership. And realistically, most people are not personally or physically attractive enough to live the fantasy lifestyle. Even if they were at twenty, they won't be at sixty.
John Galt's father taught him to save, waste nothing, live frugally, and pay cash whenever possible.
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In part, the collapse has been due to the proliferation of "bean counter" crimes. These are offenses that exist solely to make life easier for accountants, bureaucrats, and regulators.
This erosion has been almost completely negative for society. Relaxation of standards against ordinary crime has contributed absolutely nothing positive to society, while the decay of respect for the law among
If John Galt is going to go on strike, he'd better have something he can withhold. Beggars don't go on strike, telemarketers don't go on strike, infomercial producers, community activists, televangelists, repo men, bill collectors, and advertisers don't go on strike, for the simple reason that nobody would miss them (apart from their employers, whom nobody would miss) and most people would celebrate their disappearance.
In the case of the Sexual Revolution, what we gained was the realization that traditional marriage offers advantages not available in looser arrangements. Do you trade sexual liberty for security and partnership? Most people do. What we lost was much of the power to meddle in other peoples' lives or sit in judgment. Nothing to mourn there.
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Created 18 July 2008; Last Update 24 May, 2020
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