A MICROSOFT 'PERMATEMP' of my acquaintance recently described a heated political discussion she'd had with a co-worker. The co-worker, being a good manic Microsoftie, was insistant that those pesky governmental authorities oughta stop meddling in the inalienable right of big corporations to do any damned thing they wanted to do.
As she explained to me about him, "He's a libertine."
She meant he's a Libertarian--part of an organized movement and political party whose ideology I won't fully discuss here, but which basically hates both personal-morality laws (such as drug prohibitions) and business-regulation laws (such as antitrust and pollution controls).
But in retrospect, the term "libertine" might also have applied. I don't know a thing about this particular co-worker, but I've certainly known a few other cyber-capitalist true believers who could easily fall under one or more of the dictionary definitions of a libertine--"One who acts without moral restraint," "a dissolute person," "one who defies established precepts."
These cyber-libertines I know think nothing of sticking fraudulant handicapped-parking cards in the windows of their Benzos. They spend money not only to disable their Harleys' mufflers, but to use mechanical tricks to make 'em louder. To these guys (they're not all guys, just most), the 'civil society' is a crutch for weaklings and saps.
One alleged extreme libertine is Patrick Naughton.
You might remember Naughton as the high-rising Disney/Infoseek/Go Network exec who got caught up in a sting operation last month. The feds claim they caught him on an in-person meeting he'd arranged thru chat rooms with someone he thought was a 13-year-old female, but who was really a law-enforcement agent out to nab pedophiles. (As of last week's arraignment, Naughton's denied the charges and promised a vigorous defense.)
At the time of the arrest, some observers wondered out loud whether the very qualities that had propelled Naughton so high in the Net biz could also have driven him into imagining himself above the law of the land and one of the western world's most universal social taboos.
One unnamed Net-biz person was quoted as saying he didn't want to publicly dis Naughton because he might have to work with a Naughton supporter in some future gig. "The Internet industry now is not so much about technology; it's about relationships and doing deals.''
Of course, "relationships" and "doing deals" were what got Naughton into this trouble in the first place, according to the prosecution.
But is his alleged behavior really a particular outgrowth of Internet-age hypercapitalism?
Is there something about that particular industry that rewards predatory, ruthless, monomaniacal mindsets, the kind of thinking that allows for no considerations beyond one's own personal wants and obsessions?
I don't think so.
Assorted adult straight and gay men, and a few adult women, have chased after teen and preteen mating targets in assorted times and places throughout the species's history--in places as disparate as ancient Greece, George III-era England, and late-industrial Japan.
It's a common sex-fantasy; but one many (probably most) Western Hemisphereans and Europeans feel should remain taboo, for very defensible reasons. (Some people, including a few who are also sympathetic to pro-business politics, have called for a reconsideration of the taboo and the laws enforcing it; their arguments, and the counter-arguments against them, are also beyond the scope of today's discussion.)
But for now, let's acknowledge that those accused of intergenerational sex, and those who've advocated its decriminalization, have been from all walks of life, from elective politics to insurance to religion. It's not an Internet thing; it's not a straight or gay thing; it's not even a 'guy thing.'
It's a human thing.
MONDAY: So when's this new millennium start anyway, and does it really matter?
ELSEWHERE:
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS:
ARCHIVES:
- 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995, and 1986-94 columns
- Reviews of literature & art, monfiction & culture criticism, movies & videos, and music & noise
- Longer articles and essays
- The origin and future of MISCmedia
