Tyger, Tyger, Burning a Bit Less Bright

Why is our malicious pleasure in the discomforture of the fallen idol so delicious? I suspect a few factors are at work. Human societies offer many chances for people to take advantage of others, and we've managed to move beyond the war of all against all mainly by depending on some rules intended to maintain a rough justice and equality. Some of these rules are written and some are un, but they can only work to the extent that transgressors are punished.

We have a powerful instinct to punish those who cheat and take advantage, whether they are Wall Street bankers or welfare cheats. To a first approximation, Tiger's "transgressions" as he styles them, would seem only to affect his family, so why are we so eager to join the offended? Part of it is envy. This SOB has everything: looks, talent, money, and a beautiful family and he still can't keep from being a greedy asshole. Part of it is anger at his hypocrisy: he sells himself as Mr. squeaky clean and protects his image with great diligence. And, to be sure, partly it's racial. He may be biracial, but to most Americans, black and white, he's a black man whose taste runs exclusively to white women.

It seems unlikely that he will suffer much from our annoyance. His profits may suffer for a bit, but he doesn't need the money. Unlike a Clinton, Spitzer, or Sanford, his job doesn't depend on our approval, just on his skill. His wife might high tail it to Sweden, but, as Charlie Harper put it, they haven't stopped making girls, and the girls won't stop flocking to the rich and celebrated.

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