🧵 1/3
https://harpers.org/archive/2025/11/the-goon-squad-daniel-kolitz-porn-masturbation-loneliness/
Fascinating but also saddening deep dive into a subculture which I had not heard about before.
Initial reactions:
I want to avoid the Scylla of puritanical moralism and the Charybdis of a simplistic "if they're not harming anybody else" liberalism.
I like looking at pictures of nude or scantily clad adults*, and I find it difficult to believe that this harms me or society at large. Yet reading this article makes me think that an obsession with pornography is one (not the only) obstacle that prevents some men** from leading fulfilling*** lives.
I don't think that my stance here is a case of "my erotica is your porn is their disgusting filth which ought to be illegal".
* Please no pictures that look as if they are professional development material for gynecologists, urologists, or colorectal surgeons.
** Although I saw "Gooning on the
First Date" on the cover of a recent issue of Cosmopolitan, I assume most gooners are male.
*** c.f. eudaimonia in virtue ethics.
