When good things happen to bad people

Ethicists and cultural critics have a word for people who do bad things but don't act like it: shameless. And those who track matters of conscience say shamelessness is on the rise - increasingly more acceptable to both perpetrators and the public.

They point to examples like these:

• Disgraced journalists writing books about their misdeeds and profiting from them very soon after their mistakes.

• Executives at major corporations (think Enron) living indulgent lifestyles while knowing their money was obtained fraudulently.

• Former President Clinton first lying about then admitting to having an affair with a White House intern, but still being embraced by the public through approval ratings and a deal for his memoirs.

Actions that once might have qualified for a scarlet letter - or at least sent people into seclusion for a few decades - are today landing them on the covers of magazines and launching their careers (think handbag designer Monica Lewinsky).

The media has helped dilute the "shame on you" message, say observers, but so has a lack of bonding in workplaces and neighborhoods, which allows people to act more independently and think less about how society might react.

"Cheating in business or in politics or in education is not new. What is new is a kind of lack of outrage on the part of the larger public, and of shame on the part of individuals," says James Fowler, director of the Center for Ethics at Emory University. "What seems to have emerged is a kind of culture of shamelessness."

In the past 20 years or so, a sense of shame has become less common. At the same time, cultural observers have noticed changes in the way people relate to societal rules. They point to a rising sense of individualism that has people caring less about what others think, and is fed by the public's willingness to ignore bad behavior if it makes good entertainment.

Many of society's current moral problems stem from a rise in the desire to succeed quickly and at any cost, note ethicists. Younger generations also now have less unified rules about right and wrong, says Prof. Robert Lawry, director of the Center for Professional Ethics at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Hacking into a computer system, for example, is viewed by them as more of a game or a challenge to try and beat the system, rather than an ethical lapse, he says.

The way public figures deal with shame has also changed in recent decades. Richard Nixon and Gary Hart disappeared and didn't reemerge until some years after lying publicly, notes Joshua Meyrowitz, author of "No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior."

Today, the situation is different. In an information-overloaded culture - one that thrives on exposure - a shameful act is one way to stand out, says Dr. Meyrowitz, professor of media studies at the University of New Hampshire.

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