RANT WARNING. I am tired today. I am exhausted by carrying the psychological weight of thin-skinned victims, the permanently offended class among us that wants, first, that we respect each of their ‘sensibilities’ by restricting what we say. Oh were we only referencing yelling fire in the Theater of the Absurd. Sadly, nothing that apparent, that real. No.
No nuanced and tangential reference to gender, race, nationality, bedroom practices, economic stratum or political dogma is too small to merit their laser-like scrutiny and missile-like response. It would seem that the stuff in my head is so profound a threat to their presumed rights and very existence that each of my opinions must pass muster or be scrubbed from the collective unconscious.
I suppose that we still have some first amendment rights, and that most duties to shut my mouth and choose my words are found instead in some social norm to which the offended class expects I shall subscribe. But after careful consideration, I’ll pass on the subscription offer.
You see, my dear offended and oh-so-fragile brothers and sisters, my thoughts and opinions are mine, and my duties to you and ‘us’ are few, defined and bounded. I don’t have to like your ideals, your behaviors, your goals, your choices, your values, your philosophies, your premises or, frankly, you. Sorry.
I suspect that you get some redoubled sense of innate value from your tortured, injured state. Indeed this may be one of the psycho-emotional perks of your current state of being. Knowing many of you special folks, I further suspect that even the smallest such reinforcement is a needed boost to your damaged psyches. Understandable then that you make so little sense. How many of us could be talked off of a life-preserver by even the most rationale and well-intentioned life-guard? I get it. I do.
But I owe it to you, to us and mostly to me, however, to help stop the madness where I can. So here it is: You have your right to your life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, as I have to mine. You do not have a right to me liking, condoning or supporting you though, and reciprocally nor do I. Here lies the asymmetry: I don’t give a crap about your opinions, but you do seem to care about about mine.
So here you go:
- Take your religious, racial and ethnic prejudice of all stripes and color, and shove it.
- Take you class envy and confiscatory and individual-devaluing socialism and shove that too.
- Grow up and stop sniveling, put on your big-boy/girl pants and take some responsibility for yourself.
- Figure out where you end and where the next person begins.
- You have a right to your opinion, and I have a right to tell you how stupid it is / you are, as I deem appropriate. You don’t like it? Stop talking to me.
- We all deserve the right to be left alone and in peace with our privacy, our dreams and our hope.
- Don’t kid yourself about how special, how diminished, how important, how good, how guiltless and how normal you are. You do yourself a greater injustice than you do me.
- Words are just words, thoughts are just thoughts
- Put your money where your mouth is, open your wallet for your cause if it’s so important to you.
- I owe you nothing.
The Grey Enigma
The Grey Enigma 