"In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely, and without a passport; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all frontiers."
This passage got to me today. Because some folks can pay for anything, they are capable of anything. We actually live in a world where leaders can say anything, do anything, tell us the sky is orange and then say it was fake news, and because those leaders are backed by money, nothing much happens. Meanwhile those who try to take the high road are steamrolled. Moby-Dick is 168 years old and we are still grappling with how to control the power of money in the hands of 'sinners.'