There is already a lot of competition to see who can succeed in blaming whom. There's a lot of blame to go around, so I mistrust the all-or-nothing framings. I have my thoughts, but I don't think they add much to the discourse.
I learned this year that a teacher I'd had dealings with on and off for two decades had resigned after it became known that he'd regularly groomed and had sexual relationships with his female high-school students, throughout his career. He was not charged because victims willing to be interviewed were victimized too long ago. He still lost his job -- and his career, as who would dare hire him as a teacher or coach now? Reprehensible behavior from someone I decided I disliked the very first time I met him, but as with many 'cancellations' (just or otherwise) it always makes me ponder "what's the 'Act 2?' for this person. It would almost be easier, I would think, if 'Act 2' is a long prison sentence – vs trying to re-establish some form of gainful employment to keep fed and homed in middle age when your name is well publicized as a person of dishonor. Relatedly, I've known a few people who were in 'high power' positions who just withered when they retired and as a result lost the status and power-over-people their career position had provided for them. So I'd already been thinking, when I'd learned of Jason Arday's resignation, that it was rash for him to do so if it wasn't forced. The incentives for his institution, as amply demonstrated so far, were to circle the wagons against the 'horrid' outsiders, and then shift him into some administrative sinecure once the interest of the press moved on to some new thing. So his suicide was not surprising to me -- I'm presuming his honor compelled him to resign, and that sensing his diminished earning capacity and loss of prestige, he felt that there was no way forward that was tolerable to him.
"Reprehensible behavior from someone I decided I disliked the very first time I met him..."
That's always the way, isn't it? Every time I meet a guy and think, "I'd like to punch this slimeball in the teeth for no reason at all," it always turns out there was actually a very good reason.
6 comments:
Suicide is always sad. I hope he found the peace he could not find in life.
There is already a lot of competition to see who can succeed in blaming whom. There's a lot of blame to go around, so I mistrust the all-or-nothing framings. I have my thoughts, but I don't think they add much to the discourse.
It's a horrible story. So much falseness on all sides. These are hollow people with nothing to sustain them.
I learned this year that a teacher I'd had dealings with on and off for two decades had resigned after it became known that he'd regularly groomed and had sexual relationships with his female high-school students, throughout his career. He was not charged because victims willing to be interviewed were victimized too long ago.
He still lost his job -- and his career, as who would dare hire him as a teacher or coach now?
Reprehensible behavior from someone I decided I disliked the very first time I met him, but as with many 'cancellations' (just or otherwise) it always makes me ponder "what's the 'Act 2?' for this person. It would almost be easier, I would think, if 'Act 2' is a long prison sentence – vs trying to re-establish some form of gainful employment to keep fed and homed in middle age when your name is well publicized as a person of dishonor.
Relatedly, I've known a few people who were in 'high power' positions who just withered when they retired and as a result lost the status and power-over-people their career position had provided for them.
So I'd already been thinking, when I'd learned of Jason Arday's resignation, that it was rash for him to do so if it wasn't forced. The incentives for his institution, as amply demonstrated so far, were to circle the wagons against the 'horrid' outsiders, and then shift him into some administrative sinecure once the interest of the press moved on to some new thing.
So his suicide was not surprising to me -- I'm presuming his honor compelled him to resign, and that sensing his diminished earning capacity and loss of prestige, he felt that there was no way forward that was tolerable to him.
"Reprehensible behavior from someone I decided I disliked the very first time I met him..."
That's always the way, isn't it? Every time I meet a guy and think, "I'd like to punch this slimeball in the teeth for no reason at all," it always turns out there was actually a very good reason.
"Hollow" seems a good description. I wondered about this "Lord Jones" story -- is this even real?
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