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I want to defend the merits of being conventional, respectable, orthodox.
No society can bind itself together without basic customary standards of behaviour, & most people require stability as a precondition of a flourishing life.
These standards constitute 'respectability'
No society can bind itself together without basic customary standards of behaviour, & most people require stability as a precondition of a flourishing life.
These standards constitute 'respectability'
Indeed, without the existence of a stable core of standards defining the conventional, rebellion itself is entirely meaningless. Edgy cultural 'rebels' need a strong culture of respectability for their raison d'etre to make any sense
The idea of 'respectability' also provided a model of behaviour for most families that inculcated values of stability, temperance and decency. It was the backbone of an important virtue: self-respect. It provided some safeguard against a culture of selfish hedonism.
The fact that 'respectability' and being 'conventional' are now widely derided reflects the mistaken belief of a lot of middle-class people that they are exceptional in some way, and therefore 'above' the standards that apply to everyone else.
They are usually wrong about that
They are usually wrong about that
Also, the respectability of the British Left historically was a powerful guarantor against political violence and disorder. It allowed concrete incremental gains without revolution and the misery that usually entails. Everyone knew that Attlee or Wilson would not sanction gulags
If you dissolve notions of respectability & adopt an 'anything goes' mentality as the hegemonic force in your cultural imagination, you don't get an outpouring of joy, & creativity. You get cultural stagnation, mental health crisis & a chaos that is less than the sum of its parts
You also get a marginalised left that makes itself ridiculous and fringe and a libertarian, amoral right that isn't fit to be in charge. This isn't good for anyone.
To give you an example of my thesis, when punk came along in 76/77 it was genuinely shocking because there were wildly held standards of what was respectable. Nowadays, it's difficult to imagine what could do that. Our culture has become unshockable, and thereby sterile
Can people police respectability too harshly, making it oppressive? Yes. Can it become unmoored from genuine morality? Yes.
Neither point undermines its value tho.
And indeed cultures of respectability can prove surprisingly tolerant of harmless eccentricity
Neither point undermines its value tho.
And indeed cultures of respectability can prove surprisingly tolerant of harmless eccentricity
