The Modern Day Bastardism

“You know nothing, Jon Snow”.

But he did. The bastard became the hero of the whole of Westeros and we all applauded him. 

The word bastard once carried a bitter sting. In the feudal and aristocratic worlds of Europe, a bastard was a child born out of wedlock, legally illegitimate, socially outcast and politically inconvenient. More than just a slur, it was a brand of exclusion. Bastards could not inherit titles, hold certain offices, or be trusted with authority. They were seen as unmoored from the father, not just biologically, but morally. Without a father to guide, teach, or punish, the bastard was feared as unpredictable, unrestrained, and often unprincipled.

In Shakespearean tragedies and medieval chronicles alike, bastards were either scheming outsiders or tragic figures, defined not only by their parentage but by what that parentage denied them. Accountability, recognition and discipline. Society viewed the father not just as a procreator but as the primary custodian of moral order. To be fatherless, in this framework, was to lack the very scaffolding of restraint.

But in the modern world, the term has evolved. Or perhaps it has devolved. The stigma of illegitimacy, rightly, no longer holds moral weight in the personal domain. But the behaviour once associated with the bastard archetype, the audacity, the opportunism and the defiance of norms, now flourishes in boardrooms, cabinets, and battlefields. We no longer shun the bastard. We often reward him.

What we are witnessing today, across the globe, is a cultural and structural phenomenon, a conduct of those who act without fear, shame, or accountability. Those who make decisions not because they are just, but because they can. Those who take what they want, say what they must, and dare anyone to stop them. It is the behaviour of the undisciplined, the unscrutinised, the unchecked. It has left the realm of insult and entered the realm of structure. It is not the exception anymore. It is, increasingly, the operating system.

Let’s explore how this phenomenon has taken root across the world, say, in geopolitics, in commerce, in justice, and in our collective moral imagination. This is not just a lament, but a reckoning. Because when power acts like it has no father, no guide, no limits and no fear of consequence, it stops pretending to serve anyone but itself. It breeds a culture of fearless irresponsibility. Let’s call it, apologising in advance to the pundits of the English language who gave the very meaning to the word, “The Modern Day Bastardism”. 

Bastardism is the ethos of a world where power is unchecked, consequences are delayed or deflected, and responsibility is treated as optional. It is the defining feature of a new kind of leadership, be it  political, corporate or social, that acts without fear of consequence because it knows, instinctively or consciously, that no one is coming to stop it.

Let’s look at some recent global incidents or situations. We have seen Nations act like bastard states. We saw, first hand, the collapse of global restraint when Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It was a bold act of bastardism. The war was not defensive or reactive, but an expression of historical grievance dressed up as security concern. The Kremlin calculated, correctly, that while NATO and the EU would protest, and while the U.S. would send arms and impose sanctions, no one would intervene directly. Russia’s fearlessness came from years of watching the world grow tired and transactional.

Similarly, Israel's 2023-25 bombing campaign in Gaza, in response to the October 7 Hamas attacks, has taken on the character of strategic overreach. Tens of thousands of civilians have died and entire neighbourhoods flattened. Critics are silenced with charges of anti-Semitism, and global diplomatic institutions are either ignored or rendered inert. When accountability is replaced by loyalty to narratives, bastardism flourishes. Time will tell, if the overreaching has exceeded the limit with the recent targeted attack on Iran’s strategic military locations, but it clearly says that the bastards are not in a mood to stop.

China, too, has demonstrated this trend. In Hong Kong, the National Security Law effectively dissolved democratic freedoms with the world watching. In Xinjiang, reports of internment camps, forced sterilization, and cultural erasure have emerged, yet international backlash has been largely performative. The Chinese state has mastered the art of consequence management through economic entanglement.

In India, the ruling government has displayed increasing unilateralism. Pushing through controversial legislation like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the farm laws without meaningful parliamentary debate were part of such behaviour. Electoral bonds have masked political funding, while dissent has been equated with disloyalty. Institutions meant to check power, from the judiciary to the media, are either compromised or under pressure. Reports of the use of Pegasus spyware on journalists, opposition leaders, and activists remain unanswered. The government neither confirmed nor denied its role, choosing instead to stonewall any inquiry. It is their hallmark. Deny nothing, explain nothing and fear nothing. Bastardism here manifests in varied forms ranging from loud tyranny to quiet erosion.

If the Indian example represents institutionalized bastardism, Donald Trump’s brand has been loud, personal, and unapologetic. He wore his defiance like a badge. Trump repeatedly undermined institutions that refused to bend to his will, from the FBI to the CDC. Scientific data, legal norms, and diplomatic conventions were all treated as obstacles to be trampled. His administration withdrew from global agreements unilaterally and with disdain, acting not as a steward of American power but as its entitled heir. 

Perhaps the most defining act of bastardism was inciting a mob to storm the U.S. Capitol, attempting to overturn the democratic process itself. And then, refusing to accept responsibility. In any previous era, this would have been career-ending or even criminal. But Trump calculated that in a hyper-polarized society, accountability is optional. He was right.

In all these cases, the common thread is unmistakable: a sense of power divorced from consequence, and a belief that public fatigue, loyal echo chambers, and institutional complicity will absorb any shock. That is the new bastardism. Not lawless in a legal sense, but utterly fearless in a moral one.

The UN Security Council, designed to maintain global peace, is often paralysed by the veto power of its permanent members. Russia can invade a neighbour, China can stonewall inquiries, and the U.S. can unilaterally shield allies from criticism. The global referee is now a debating club where justice is contingent on geopolitics.

It’s not just the governments. In the modern world, corporations have become the most powerful entities in human history, more agile than governments, more influential than religions, and more embedded in our daily lives than any ideology. But with this power has come a remarkable erosion of restraint. What we witness today, with alarming consistency, is corporate bastardism, behaviour driven not by values or responsibility, but by audacity, secrecy, and self-interest.

Corporate bastardism manifests when a company sees regulation as a hurdle, ethics as just a  marketing tool, and responsibility as a PR risk rather than a core principle. This bastardism is not necessarily loud or criminal. Often, it’s subtle. It’s in the way gig workers are denied benefits by reclassifying them as “independent partners.” It’s in the way tech companies deploy addictive design while professing “wellness.” It’s in how pharmaceutical giants hoard patents while millions die waiting. It’s in data harvesting, in greenwashing, in planned obsolescence, in quietly shifting headquarters to tax havens.

At its root, corporate bastardism is about the knowledge that regulators are slow, public memory is short, and shareholders care only for the next earnings call. It's not just about greed. It’s about impunity. In this context, apologies are scripted, penalties are pre-budgeted, and reform is cosmetic. The corporation knows the game. It understands that with enough size, influence, and capital, there is no “father” left to punish it and no system that can bring it meaningfully to heel.

We’ll outline just a few emblematic examples of how this bastardism plays out in the real world. They are not anomalies. They are templates or blueprints for power without conscience and profits without principles

Facebook’s metamorphosis into Meta was not merely a branding exercise, but an escape from past accountability. Under Zuckerberg’s leadership, Facebook facilitated political manipulation, sowed social division, and prioritized engagement over truth. Despite being called out by whistle-blowers and regulators, it continues to operate with only surface-level accountability. Its ambition to own the future through the metaverse reveals a company that believes it has outgrown reproach.

The Boeing 737 MAX crashes (Lion Air in 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines in 2019) were disasters born from systemic neglect. Investigations revealed how internal safety concerns were suppressed and cost-cutting overrode engineering judgment. In a company once considered a gold standard in aviation, a bastardized culture had emerged, one where shareholder satisfaction trumped passenger safety.

Shein, the Chinese fast fashion giant, represents bastardism in the form of mass consumer manipulation. Its ultra-low prices are enabled by opaque supply chains, labor exploitation, and unsustainable environmental practices. The company targets youth with disposable clothing trends, creating a consumption cycle that rewards irresponsibility.

Even in the high-minded world of artificial intelligence ethics, bastardism creeps in. The OpenAI board's attempted ousting of CEO Sam Altman in 2023 was a drama fuelled by secrecy and internal politics. A company designed to ensure AI benefits all of humanity momentarily veered toward organizational self-sabotage, showing how even the most altruistic missions can fall to ambition.

Modern Day Bastardism is not just about power; it is about a mindset. It is what emerges when Governments face no electoral consequence for deception. When corporations laugh off fines as a cost of doing business. When the media trades in fear, rage, and attention. When citizens become exhausted by complexity and surrender to apathy.

In traditional societies, the "father" figure symbolized not just authority, but accountability. He could discipline, correct, and protect. In modern power structures, no such figure exists. There is no global arbiter, no ethical centre, and no agreed-upon standard of conduct. The result is a default behaviour which is audacious, amoral, and confident. When this goes unchecked, the social fabric frays. Trust dies. Cynicism grows. Systems lose legitimacy. Diplomacy becomes a performance of sorts. Laws become selective. Markets become predatory. Rights become negotiable. The long heralded values like Equality, Liberty and Fraternity will eventually seem laughable. 

So, welcome to the world of Snow. Ramsay. Not Jon.