ABSTRACT
Though most commonly associated with individual human sexuality, perversion can permeate social life and may be found in any human system whose purpose and meaning are, by the very operation of that system, undermined, violated, or destroyed. Perversion is often found where there are strong power differentials with weak or corrupt oversight and is expressed by political leaders who live above the law and violate the trust of their constituents while debasing the moral order that organizes society. Perversion manifests in CEOs who become their own law as they flout ethics and rules while betraying contractual agreements with shareholders and degrading the dynamic economic and social systems necessary for societal stability. Perversion blossoms in bureaucratic or medical institutions that provide human services while treating human beings like things. It has a secure home in religious institutions that cynically violate their own teachings while insisting on the sovereignty of their dogma. Perversion is found in the excesses of mindless consumerism and brand-name fetishism. In the nation state and rogue state its potential for evil is greatest through activities of class exploitation, pernicious foreign policy, war, “racial and ethnic cleansing,” and genocide. Perversion is found in all things humanly created and deployed that are rife with deception, betrayal, exploitation, cruelty, dehumanization, and destructiveness.
