Hating on James

So lately everyone has been hating on me, which is deserved. The weird part is that everyone is hating on me all at once. It's as if they've overcome transaction costs and inaugurated a Coasean dystopia, descending on me like vengeful rational actors with transitive preferences and unsatiable desires.

As I said, though, it's well-deserved, so I can't really complain. Normally, though, there's a sort of statute of limitations. People "forget" things that happened long enough ago, or prior to a dividing line like an apology. This isn't for the same reasons as the legal statute of limitations (peace of mind, stale evidence). I think it's about marginal deterrence. If people actually held me accountable for all the crap I've done, they would inflict maximum punishment and have no marginal ability to influence my behavior.

I feel like a sinner who has been forgiven too easily for years, but who is finally paying the full price for his misdeeds. There's something bracing about it.