Social media apps.
We live in an age of the moral void. The Age of Crass. Where nothingness is the standard. An era of the vacuous and the vacant. Vacant of decency. Absence of standard. Guided only by crass materialism and exhibitionism. I don’t want to say it wasn’t always this way. But really – it wasn’t always this way. Time was when shame – both in the home and community – governed us.
This sense of shame was more important than the law, as it should be. Because shame is the norm from which the law derives its origin and legitimacy. Today, any fool with an internet-enabled device can write or say any damn thing they wish. That’s democracy. No madam – that’s the textbook definition of decrepit.
A couple of weeks ago, I was at a national state event celebrating a hallowed occasion. After the event, as I was greeting folks, a lady came up to me and pulled me aside. She asked for a job. Which was OK. Then she asked me to give her a thousand shillings. I was so embarrassed and stunned that I suffered momentary paralysis. How could this women so well dressed and polite in manner make such a bold move? I had never met, or interacted, with her in any way. How did she if her life was so penurious access such a restricted state event? The more I ruminated over this sad episode, the more I felt defeated. I hang my head in despair.
There are other episodes. The governor who loots the devolved unit dry secreting every penny for development into his coffers and those of his family, relatives, and cronies. Yet the governor stands in every public forum and tells the hoi polloi that his job is to “serve the people.” He says so shamelessly and repeats it everywhere. Or the political event goer who waylays any person who looks “prosperous” and harasses them to their car demanding money, often menacingly. Frankly, I might give up going to high profile events. You might say this is a result our deep-seated social and economic inequities. But that alone can’t tell the whole story.
Time was when public begging – stretching out your hand for a coin from a stranger – was simply not done. Unless you were the habitual market or street beggar. These days , however, folks in suits and high heels are the habitual beggarly types. Between the menacing boda boda and the deadly matatu, you don’t know where to hide. This isn’t classism as some lazy mind might opine. I remember in the 1980s in New York subways when the homeless and the marginalised would prowl train cars asking for money. If you gave them less than $5 you were in for it. They would cry, “only two dollars, man?” This is how societies break down because of bad economic and political policies and moral decay.
Crass lasciviousness
Then there is social media. You would think these media were invented yesterday. They’ve been with us for a while now. Facebook and X are some of the most abused media.
As is the newer one, Tik Tok. For some reason, public nudity, crass lasciviousness, and utterly disgusting videos and pictures have become the norm. So has cyberbullying. Some users are so addicted they post the craziest things – which they now call “content” – every few minutes.
This is clearly a form of mental derangement. But it is so widespread that it should be classified as a social catastrophe. Bullies have found their prey online unfurling the most wicked epithets and attacks. It’s Armageddon out there. That’s why laws to regulate these deviant behaviours are necessary.
The problem with these deviant online acts is that you can’t differentiate between juveniles and grandpa. Both generations are in the grip of collective madness. The other day a viral video of a middle-aged woman – who wasn’t even easy on the eyes – depicted her in the crudest of degrading acts. The video shouldn’t even be required viewing for those living in the most torturous and cruellest dungeons of hell. Has life lost all meaning or boundaries of moral decency?
This isn’t even art for no art could be so pukey. Is it all for clicks, or a deeper hole in the soul? There should be free therapy for such folks. The equivalent of pro bono legal representation for the indigent.
Over-sexualisation
Let me end where I started. Great civilisations are felled by over-sexualisation, shamelessness, greed, and moral decay. Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece come to mind. Some say the West is teetering there.
I would add here the filthy rich in all societies, secular and religiously overzealous. It’s an open secret that the super-rich in strict Islamic societies imbibe to excess. No doubt social media has made an orgy of life, often quite literally. Can we arrest the decline?
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Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor and Margaret W. Wong Professor at Buffalo Law School, The State University of New York. He’s Senior Advisor on Constitutional Affairs to President William Ruto. @makaumutua.
