A Brief Note on Perversion

Basic perversions exist dynamically and faceted across societies. As such any endeavor to explore and comment on their nature and impact works out to be no small task. The concept of perversion itself is a profoundly complex and subjective topic, its geography marked with steep precipices that put even the most wary wanderer in a precariously complex state of astonishment. It would be easy to get caught up in the pleasures of the landscape and thus unwittingly meet a fool’s demise. The task before us now, a cursory ponderance of the subject perhaps carries an even greater risk. For the cautious traveler will research the topography, the wild beasts and any other likely dangers to be confronted. He comes prepared. We, however, will enter this territory with but a canteen and a cheap compass. I, as your guide who, by the way has no greater knowledge of the subject than you, will offer this justification: It's all about the adventure.

It is here that I feel I have come across by means of poetic expression the first element of perversity. Generally it is not favorable to circle back on one's own footsteps, however, let us examine the phrase, "It's all about the adventure." At first it may seem to be the height of pessimism to consider that this commonly used motivational phrase may be an element of perversion. However, this phrase relates directly to the ethical question of, "the ends justifying the means." In this sense our consideration now lends itself directly into a position where we must ask ourselves in there is a certain perversion to 'ethics'. It would likely be helpful for us to define 'perverse'. While there are multiple connotations to this word, let's focus our attention on this usage, "obstinate in opposing what is right, reasonable, or accepted."

We can now see the opening of a possibility for 'ethics' to become a perverse concept, i.e. the notion of what is 'right, reasonable, or accepted' is highly subjective to the motivations of the masses. In this sense, that which is not perverse does not necessarily equate to which in unethical. For example, it may be 'right, reasonable, and accepted' to engage in certain liberal banking practices; however at the same time ethics could demand a different course of action. In this case it could be said that doing the 'ethical thing' would correlate into doing a 'perverse thing' as it differs from commonly held views.

We can now return to the earlier statement, "It's all about the adventure." It is a well known fact that quite often people toss around colloquial phrases, however do not follow them. My example for this is pulled from a particular phenomenon in Western society. Western children are told from a very young age that in order to have an accomplished life, upon completing secondary school, they must move directly to university. One must consider that here the colloquial, "it's all about the adventure" becomes increasingly meaning less since those children will often borrow vast sums of money in order to establish themselves as 'educated'. In this sense a certain end has been reached, roads in life's 'adventure' closed. No longer can that idealist child move freely through their surroundings, rather they must choose a vocation, complete their training, move to the workforce in that field (it's worth noting that often they do not), and now spend a great deal of time paying back the borrowed money. It is not all about the adventure, unless one considers an adventure to be a closely scheduled affair.

In this light, the one who truly follows the common advice, "It's all about the adventure" becomes perverse. The will decide to do what they will, move in the direction of their choosing, at the time of their choosing. They have decided to take the 'ethical' stance.

It is here where I will digress. Perversion is a broad topic. My hope is that the above exercise will provide a back bone for my reader to more broadly consider perversion in a more objective light.

We must not consider the concept of perversion as a package deal, but rather, we must consider it on a case by case basis, using ethics, not convention as the starting point for all dissections.