It’s time to fire the three monkeys: Silence is still an engine of subjugation

The three-monkeys principle — see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil — was, in the areas of physical or sexual abuse, close enough to convention for many generations. Its application, however, was uneven. The that-depends-on-who-you-are laxity still offers comfort to some of those who ignore environmental responsibilities, or others who might commit white-collar crime. Status acted as a shield. A farm labourer or a truck driver was more likely to be the subject of gossip, or worse, than the bishop who might in time confer those men’s children, while invoking the eternal majesty of his church. A senior figure in, say, a medical profession, a senior academic, or maybe member of the law library could indulge proclivities that offended laws and morals to abuse the vulnerable confident their position would protect them. The deference of the disadvantaged was the susceptibility exploited.

It was, and it may still be, a micro version of the too-big-to-fail principle that saved banks from any real consequences of their commercial recklessness. They were insulated from the idea of moral hazard and rescued, while smaller debt holders were bankrupted or evicted. Thankfully, those conventions no longer hold water, or at least as securely as they once did.