Virginia Hughes

In case you had any doubt, Eliot Spitzer’s resignation now confirms that adultery is the fastest way for American politicians to lose public approval. Don’t get me wrong, the salacious details of the “Kristen” scandal—it was 10 p.m., on the night before Valentine’s Day, in a Washington hotel; she was a 5′5″ brunette; he asked her to, “do things that, like, you might not think were safe”—sicken me, too. I’m glad he’s out of Albany.

Evolutionary biologist David Barash is using the scandal as evidence that men (especially powerful men) are, like most other mammals, not meant to be monogamous. As he espoused in today’s LA Times:

But even a smidgen of evolutionary insight suggests that maleness plus money plus political power isn’t likely to add up to the kind of sexual restraint that the public expects. A concluding word, therefore, to the outraged voters of New York state: You want monogamy? Elect a swan. Or better yet, a Diplozöon paradoxum. [That's a monogamous species of worm.]

I agree: some knowledge of basic evolutionary biology would do our species a whole lotta good. As Barash explains, because sperm is so cheap, evolutionary drivers push men to be “aggressive sexual adventurers, inclined to engage in sex with multiple partners when they can.” Those same drivers push females—who will need protection and resources in order to successfully carry and raise a child—toward powerful men. (Which, he states wryly, “contributes to the apparent sex appeal of such less-than-stunning physical specimens as Kissinger, Woody Allen and Bill Clinton.”)

So, maybe Barash is right, and with a little bit of biology education the Puritanical public wouldn’t expect politicians to exhibit “sexual restraint.” I’m appalled at the weight of the scandal in media outlets throughout the world. Spitzer has been on the homepage of BBC Russia, of all places, for two days straight. OK, so the governor of New York hired prostitutes. Often. Is that really the newsiest thing Russia could come up with?

All that said, let’s back the determinism truck up for a second. Spitzer was guilty of more than infidelity. He didn’t just have a mistress, or 12. He paid women ($4,300 to Kristen, and at least $80,000 in total) for sex, thus breaking the same federal laws that he enforced so gleefully in his days as a prosecutor.

Even Barash concedes: “People have the unique capacity to act contrary to their biologically given inclinations. Maybe, in fact, it is what makes us human.” Spitzer, as not only a human, but a husband, a father of three teenaged girls, a member of the Bar Association, and governor of one of the most powerful states in the country, arguably felt much more moral (or “cultural,” if you prefer) pressure to reject these “biologically given inclinations” than the average cheatin’ man. Good riddance.

(Hat Tip: Jonah)

:: :: ::