Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Just for the record

I do not believe women to be better than men. All I know is that they have reaped less havoc on the world for reasons that may very well lie beyond their consciousness. It is simply a fact that they haven’t. It is men not women who fill prisons, and who commit the worst violent crimes. Serial killers and mass murderers are notoriously male.

But still I wouldn’t say that men are worse human beings than women, simply because the human consciousness is quite over-rated. Most of the time we are sleep walking. I believe that most of our actions follow a preset course that has proven successful throughout evolution. In that, humans do not differ very much from other species, whether primates, dogs, or ducks.

The dominant male, who will resort to force and violence if deemed necessary, has prevailed. And so has the accommodating female, who will seek to promote her lot by seeking an alliance with him (whatever the cost).

And even if there are examples that seem to indicate that times are changing, these cases are still a) rare and b) usually less successful. Just take the rate of female CEOs who remain childless. That gene pool is not going to make it very far now, is it?

But what I am saying is that for the sake of humanity, and as such, the dignity of our species, we have to move beyond hackneyed responses such as “boys will be boys” or “women are just as bad” and instead be brave enough to call a spade a spade.

Instead of cementing the status quo we must point out harmful patterns in our immediate environment as well as on a larger scale and try our best to come up with strategies to eradicate them.

And sorry, Mr. Ratzinger (alias Benedict XVI), condoms are not the issue at hand. Really, you need to step out of the way where real work needs to be done, you old fart.

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