Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts
Reading Ngaio Marsh’s Scales of Justice I realized that the word, “impertinence” has gone out of use. Indeed, what was once an outrage is now so common that no one recognizes it as impertinence. Impertinence has become accepted routine behavior and is no longer recognized when it occurs.
The phenomena of impertinence requires a polite, somewhat formal society in which privacy, self-control, and respect for others are requirements. Gentlemen don’t read other gentlemen’s mail. Tell that to the NSA, CIA, FBI, Google, and all corporations who spy on Internet usage. In England prior to 1950 it was impertinence for a male to go too far in his compliments to a woman. When I was a student at Oxford University in the 1960s, it was an impertinence to telephone a person to whom you had not been introduced. Today we live with constant telephone intrusions from telemarketers, robots, and scam artists. A society in which impertinence is understood no longer exists.
Continue reading “If We Are to Survive We Must Learn to Ask the Right Questions”
