In the 1995 film version of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, the noble Col. Brandon refers to Mr. Willoughby as “the worst of libertines,” a word not much used today but common in Austen’s time. A libertine was an unrestrained, sensual person who put his own desires ahead of what was decent and acceptable. A libertine flouted moral principles, and his conduct (and there were female libertines as well) was condemned as immoral by all right-thinking persons.
Today, there is less moral consensus regarding personal behavior, and this loss is reflected in every aspect of our culture. Many don’t know what to think, or withhold judgment because it is not “cool” to judge, about matters like adultery, promiscuity, drug and alcohol abuse, and other irresponsible behaviors. The attitude is “look the other way” or else “it’s a personal matter,” not for society to judge.
Few of us wish to return to the rigid Victorian morality of the past, where the mere suggestion of wrongdoing was enough to exclude someone from society (as seems to be happening to Pete Hegseth, with the charges brought to light just at the moment he was nominated for secretary of…
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