Bring Back Shame... Please.

I know we spent decades telling people not to be ashamed of themselves, and that was probably very kind and progressive of us.

But I think we may have overcorrected.

Nobody is ashamed of anything anymore.

People film themselves crying in supermarket car parks. They announce their “personal journey” because they stopped eating bread for four days. They share photographs of surgical wounds, marital arguments and the contents of their children’s nappies.

Nothing is private. Nothing is embarrassing. Nothing is too stupid to upload.

Years ago, if you behaved like an idiot in public, you went home and hoped nobody had noticed. Now you go home, edit the footage, add dramatic music and upload it in three parts.

“Part Two coming tomorrow!”

No. Please don’t.

Shame used to perform a useful social function. It stopped people from singing loudly in cafés, giving medical advice despite working in real estate, and describing themselves as “public figures” because 312 people followed them on TikTok. Don't get me started in "influencers"

It kept your personal business personal.

Now, every bowl you dish up is a podcast.

We don’t need the brutal, soul-destroying shame of the olden days. I’m not suggesting we ring a bell and parade people through town.

I’m only suggesting a tiny amount.

Just enough to make someone pause before posting a photograph of themselves attached to a drip with the caption, “Don’t ask.”

Because you know perfectly well, we’re going to ask.

That’s why you bloody posted it.