The following was written years ago and still hold true today:

“Similar to the concepts of virtue and vice,
[justice and injustice] are purely local and geographical;
that which is vicious in Paris turns up, as we know,
a virtue in Peking, and it is quite the same thing here;
that which is just in Isfahan
they call unjust in Copenhagen.
Amidst these manifold variations
do we discover anything constant?”
- Marquis de Sade

Years ago it fashionable for the white British to use the phrase, “catch a nigger by the toe.” That was then, when no one battered an eye. May be some people did but didn’t show it or I was not aware of their reactions. How could I be aware when I didn’t even know what a nigger was!

Recently I’ve been fascinated to see the new ethical standards come and some of the old go. Although I hold no regret for some of the primitive cultures that were perpetuated against the oppressed majority. What is more interesting (or bizarre) is the clear establishment of the view that drug users are victims while drug sellers are bad. Also the ever increasing rate of prostitution in means those selling sex are victims while the users are bad. That is, the new moral fashion had coined a new meaning for the word “victim”.

It is fair to say that many of these politically correct expressions were not widely held views a generation ago. One wonders how the older generation are coping with these trends as moral fashions become as fluid as any other field. What probably explains these trends is the abandonment of an absolute standard in the slide to a secular society.

There are issues we debate, and there are underlying assumptions accepted by both sides of the debate. A few swim upsteam… one columnist had the audacity to suggest that the prostitutes lives were of less value than most – no great loss, he implied. He was roundly put down by left and right, by legalist and libertarian. Most agree that an individual murder victim’s social position should not prejudice the vigour of the investigation nor the exactness of justice. But that has not always been the prevailing moral climate. There is little reason to think it will remain as it is now.

There are two possibilities here. Either we have just arrived at the final and complete set of ethical standards for humanity… or fashion will change again. (It would be a remarkable coincidence if this is the age that finally figured it all out.)

It is a near certainty that our children, as post-enlightened adults (or whatever they’ll call themselves) will look back on some views held today with a roll-of-the-eyes and mock embarrassment – “oh, that’s just how people thought in those days.” So I asked myself, what thoughts and values are approvingly smiled upon today by the great and the good, but will seem ridiculous to a new generation?

Perhaps discrimination against the thick will become unacceptable. Nowadays stupid people get an awful rough time, low pay, over-representation in prisons. In future, employees telling jokes about dummies will be frog-marched to tolerance classes. We’ll observe Meat-Head Awareness Week, and Dim Pride! No longer will promotion by merit sound so noble… perhaps.

I’m not making judgements about what morals I approve or disapprove of here, I’m just wondering what current standards will prove less enduring than they feel today.

Any other ideas?