The true root of my inspiration for this particular topic escapes me. I know it’s a heavy one. It may be the human nature and sociology reading binge I’ve been on combined with the 2025 goal-setting spree I decided to undertake earlier this month.

Or maybe it’s the power of what seems to be a timeless and ceaselessly intriguing topic, such as “deadly sins” (also known as “capital vices”). Or have lust, sloth, and wrath been on my mind lately? Who knows?

Mostly however, this article’s perspective is on the Seven Deadly Sins portrayed through the lens of the current state of society and culture in 2025. How are we and the next generation, consciously and unconsciously, internalizing and perpetrating the seven deadly sins in this generation?

The goal of this post isn’t to unpack the meaning of the sins themselves – I think we are all at an age where we know what they mean. Rather, it is to stay aware of how many of these “capital vices” seep into our attitudes, beliefs, manners, and behaviours unnoticed, and how we may be encouraging, adopting, and glamourizing many of these character traits both in our lifestyles, and the ones of those we may be raising, marrying, or working with.

WHAT THE 7 DEADLY SINS LOOK LIKE IN 2025

Pride.

I’ve realized that in 2025, all or most of the 7 deadly sins I am about to talk about have become so normalized to the point of not only going unnoticed but also romanticized. Pride is kicking off the list.

All forms of media and social media messaging (which is, let’s be honest, the most rampant and influential form) encourage young people to not only achieve big things but also brag, boast, post, and openly make no effort to conceal their true motives behind them.

In many ways, this could be considered a positive cultural revolution. We need a headstrong, opinionated, confident generation to come around every few decades to really shake things up.

But simultaneously, it’s essential to stay mindful of how far we should allow ourselves to go. Just because everyone is doing it everywhere we look does not mean that we should allow it to run wild.

Greed.

Following closely behind pride is Greed. Enough is never truly enough for anyone of any income level or class in this day and age. Again, being ambitious and wanting better for yourself and your family is not bad. It’s also a beautiful thing to pursue goals that align with our true talents and passions.

However, letting this natural instinct run wild is detrimental to the overall health of our society. At an individual level, we need to maintain a somewhat humble outlook (especially after a respectable age) and not give in to feelings of extreme grandiosity or status-chasing—unintentionally competing with friends and loved ones in a fruitless and eventually emotionally fruitless exercise in so-called “building legacy.”

Lust.

My my. Now, isn’t this one saucy? “Lust” might as well be the label of a brand-name perfume or an after-hours club in Ibiza. That’s the extent of this word’s effectiveness and brand strength to our current generation.

We also see it in the casual everyday assimilation of soft-core adult entertainment sites such as OnlyFans (not to mention Instagram, now transformed into a virtual hotbed of real and artificial male fantasy).

In other examples, extra-marital affairs, social media “reconnections” with old flames (while married to new ones), and office flirtations still abound without too much discretion, depending on the personal situations of all parties involved.

Although literal streetwalking may be kept under wraps in society, the metaphorical version, represented by the uninhibited voluptuous activity of those around us, still abounds and is normalized more every day.

Envy.

Envy may be one of the most common and simultaneously “taboo” behaviours on the list. No one likes to admit to envying another any more than we want to admit to cheating on an exam or telling a white lie to get out of trouble.

But at the same that it’s hard to admit to, the feeling has also insidiously and ubiquitously been gaining momentum. We see it on a macro level through the proliferation of status-chasing virtual media platforms and political and corporate warfare.

On a more individual level, envy is still as rampant as it ever has been among family members, children in classrooms, and colleagues in a boardroom, if not more so than it was even a decade ago.

Gluttony.

Recently, the message conveyed via media is that something might be amiss if you can’t afford or appreciate drinking and dining at the high end of the fine-dining spectrum.

It isn’t just about the twenty-something social media influencers filling up the waitlists at Nobu, but rather about the mindset being encouraged to the younger generation.

Eating at home, meal-planning, cooking, and, most importantly, valuing a modest approach to recreational dining should also stay in focus.

Sloth.

There is certainly an art to laziness. Staying in bed, ordering in, not tidying up, pushing the work deadline once or twice, or cancelling social plans at the last minute are all reasonable expressions of a lack of motivation from time to time.

But if your downtime begins to intrude on your job, relationships, income, or health, it may be a deadly sin and most likely an invitation to reflect on where changes need to be made.

Wrath.

Anger is a real and powerful emotion worthy of respect, both within ourselves and in others (in balance, of course). When leveraged in the right way, it can change people, places, and history.

But left untempered and possessed by those with power and influence, anger can quickly turn to wrath and cause large-scale individual and societal damage. We see this in politics, corporations, and intimate family relationships.

Wrath is and was the cause of almost all of history’s catastrophes, racial tensions and revolutionary change (for the better and worse). We are even witnessing it in the ongoing gender wars of this generation. Women are enraged, turning their backs on a thankless domestic lifestyle, and men feel devalued and dismissed by the hypergamous women in the dating pool.

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Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope what you have read has somehow educated, informed, or inspired you.

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