This, and the whole #metoo movement have elicited some of the most interesting discussions my wife and I have had of late. The privileges we males enjoy - and take for granted - go far beyond 'unfair'. Once she and I started talking, I was repeatedly taken aback at things I just wasn't seeing, because I didn't have to see. We've talked about many such things before, but #metoo and the Scoble issue had us digging much deeper. The kinds of convos that take relationships down to the foundation to check for integrity.

Scoble was one of us ETPers. I and my social circle found him vacuous and obsequious; we weren't alone. You'll find only one threadbare reference to him here in my eighteen years of blogging. Though his meteoric rise came after I beat a hasty departure, his behavior reflects badly on us and requires a clear refutation.

My feeling is, a person never knows how they will react to sudden popularity and significant power ... but right and wrong don't change.

Every time a person crosses a line, they know they have crossed it. Not every binge is consciousness-immolating. You still have to wake up and either listen to your personal angels, turning towards the light again ... or rationalize with your demons, and become one with 'the darkness at the edge of town'.

In that choice, your character is laid bare.

I hope the victims will be able to negotiate closure and find lasting peace for themselves. Yet the nature of the violations makes me doubt there can ever be full reparation. No matter the number of words or magnitude of actions, some things can never be taken back to normal. (If you don't understand why and you're male, hand the original article (Quinn Norton on Medium) to your partner, and let them explain the nature of the multifarious violations to you from their perspective.)

The one hopeful detail is that there doesn't seem to have been any enabling or Weinstein-like premeditation; makes it all slightly less horrible (slightly, from a legalese perspective, that is) in comparison with other revelations hitting the airwaves. Nevertheless, I hope Scoble seeks help beyond mere alcohol abuse therapy; that is clearly not enough.

(October 23 update: Sounds like he has resigned from his current position, is pulling back and is now seeking further help. The women involved shouldn't have had to go nuclear for this step to have been taken. I also, coincidentally, hear Weinstein was in a one week 'outpatient' harrassment/abuse class? One week buys him absolution? Are you kidding me?)