Droit de Seigneur

As the stories about Philippe Strauss Kahn filter out, a picture has emerged of a renegade libertine that even by lax European standards is quite disturbing. The Guardian has broken the silence imposed by both the political establishment and draconian French privacy laws specifically enacted to shield the peccadilloes of public figures from scrutiny.

Now there are rumors in the European press and blog spots of conspiracies and American Puritanism at work. That Mr. Strauss Kahn has a lurid history of mashing, sexual assault and worse seems to have little to do with the growing dissonance in the narrative.

Mr. Strauss Kahn’s arrest comes at a precarious time. The IMF is in the middle of the whirlpool that is the European sovereign debt crisis. DSK, as he is known, is a prime advocate for the role of the IMF as the world’s economic authority and is a guarantor of Greek, Irish, and Portuguese debt. He was until yesterday also the prime Socialist candidate to replace French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Now even with all of the protections of the oligarchy he may not be able to withstand the scrutiny and the law.

Tristan Banon, the daughter of a political ally alleged that a sexual assault had occurred in 2002.  But even when she refused to name her assailant, she was, she says, blacklisted by the establishment for even mentioning what was an open secret. Her advocate is now preparing to press charges against Strauss Kahn. More recently, DSK was admonished for a tumultuous affair in 2008 with an IMF employee with an episode at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It is an open secret that his conduct when dealing with women is far beyond the pale, even by European standards. But as a lion of the Left, he was able to get away with it until now.

“Droit de Seigneur” or “Right of the Lord” is a medieval term connoting the right of the Lord to take the virginity of his serfs daughters when they married. Lost in the fog of time, the practice as described may or may not have existed. What clearly did and does exist, even today, is a double standard for the rulers and the ruled.

Whether it was JFK and his womanizing or Teddy Kennedy and his debauchery, the existence of this double standard has long haunted society. From the depredations of the Kings, Princes, Dukes, and lords of England, France, Russia and (insert name here) to today, the copulations and excesses of the upper class was the norm and women were objects of desire with little legal recourse. The practice transcends societies and time. Just this morning, Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted he had fathered the child of a domestic employee. The arrogance is astounding.

Since the rise of Protestantism and the middle class, however, limits have been placed upon such conduct. The stakes had been rising for the libertines. In the past 50 years sexual assault has become the  bête noire of both the women’s movement and civil society and the penalties are severe. But equality of rights has been espoused but not enforced at the highest levels.

The watchdogs are as much to blame as anyone. The powerful buy silence or enforce it it via the law. The political imperative has almost always overridden the  facts. Teddy Kennedy was guilty of manslaughter and escaped punishment. In Italy, the Berlusconi scandal gets deeper and deeper. In his case, he owns much of the media. In America, the media have become fellow travelers and enablers of the worst miscreants so long as they have the same political views.

Unlike in France, Mr. Strauss Kahn is innocent until proven guilty in the United States and the bar is set high. He is also entitled to the best defense money can buy.

However, it becomes more clear every day that we are in a new age of oligarchs to whom the law does not apply. Whether it is the suspicious political murders in Russia, the Droit de Seigneur so prevalent in the West, or the financial mayhem without consequences as practiced in Washington and on Wall Street, there are few if any consequences for the rich and powerful.

Integrity was at one time the cornerstone of Western Society. The ethical and legal strictures arising from the Reformation demanded this from kings and commoners. From Casanova to De Sade to Mayerling, society recoiled at the excess of libertinism. The French monarchy in particular fell because of not only the economic and political rot at Court, but also the perception of moral degradation by the bourgeoisie. The Mandate of the Gods evolved into the consent of the governed but on a regular basis the mandarins push the envelope.

The world is at a strange and dangerous juncture. The moral cement that held us together is losing its grip and our leaders offer nothing in its place but sophistry and deception. The economic challenges are just as sinister. Taken together, the prognosis is unclear.

I don’t have the answers but I will try to frame the historical and ethical context.