The Jesse Lacey Problem II

Nearly a year ago, I wrote about my decision to stop listening to the music of Jesse Lacey and his band Brand New, as a result of the accusations of sexual misconduct against him and his seeming admission-by-omission. In retrospect, writing that piece is probably aggressively virtue signalling, so to balance it out I will don my apologist's cap today.

I've been pondering forgiveness a lot recently. Do I believe that any human being is truly evil? I don't think so. Admittedly this is according to Vice, but allegedly even in El Chapo's trial, the jurors took pity on him, seeing him as product of his environment and not an inherently malign individual. I suspect they are probably right, and so it is tempting to forgive him - but intuitively it seems that we must draw the line somewhere. Some actions, even if misguided, must be deemed irredeemable in order to ensure our society can approximate functioning. But where should that line be?

It's not for me to say - I am now ethics buff. The books are all on my to-read list, none on the read. But forgiveness seems important. I was reluctant to fall prey to my own biases in forgiving Lacey, when I would not have forgiven someone in an appreciably similar position who I had not felt a previous affinity towards. In the end, I feel like I can justify my decision - forgiveness is, as I said, important, and some forgiveness is better than none. Sometimes good people do bad things, and everybody makes mistakes - I could fill a novel with the things I have done of which I am not proud, do I really consider myself above Lacey, even if I have not done what he has?

The counterargument here is that I am invalidating, or perhaps selectively ignoring the experience of the victims. If left unchecked (or indeed supported by a large fanbase), perhaps someone who has hurt another could continue to hurt yet more innocent people. Perhaps therein lies where I draw the line - I will forgive anyone who I believe is repentant, and would not cause harm in the same way again. And I believe that that is the way Lacey feels.

Today, I listened through Brand New's entire discography for the first time in a year. It was spine-chilling, glorious, euphoric. Welcome back, Jesse.