Our political obsession with shame

The guilt framework does not grant a free pass for past misdeeds; the repudiation of wrongdoing that comes with repentance is still required. But the possibility of moving on from these old sins exists. Sometimes we may rightfully reject an apology as inadequate or insincere, but there is at least a plausible route to redemption and restoration to society’s good graces. (To be clear, that does not mean continuance in power, as Conor Friedersdorf persuasively argues about Northam. Old actions may yet demand new consequences.)

The shame framework, by contrast, makes such a route all but impossible by requiring public proof of internal transformation. And since that may never be provided to a critic’s satisfaction — and understandably so — we are at an impasse. The shame cannot be removed because it is inextricable from identity.

Think, for instance, of Hillary Clinton’s infamous “basket of deplorables” remark. If you are in that basket, how can you get out? A guilt framework would permit you to exit with sufficient repudiation of and action in opposition to racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia, to use Clinton’s list. With the shame framework Clinton employed, “people like that” are just “irredeemable.”