jueves, 22 de agosto de 2013

Imagine this



             I get so sick of listening to the so-called 'political debate' going on in this country, which is really little more than a dog-&-pony show between the most extroverted (and often the most socially uninhibited) specimens of each party.  And while the circus goes on and Joe Public has to fight for his bread, most of the people doing and making are ignorant of some of the most basic and most egregious invasions ofpersonhood going on around them.  (And going on between them, as they have become the instruments of this social injustice.)

             We know that Republicans and Democrats each represent an approximately equal portion of the voting public.  So imagine that either group, chosen at random, would be forced to behave in certain ways, forced to perform certain customs – starting as adolescents –  for the rest of their lives.   

Imagine that.  This is what it might look like:

All Democrats are indoctrinated – and coerced by pressure from peers, parents and other authority figures – to wear a facial mask of a definite pattern [comprising the coloring of specific features of the face] when in public, and even when in ‘private’ if dealing with close friends or members of one’s own family.

All Democrats are compelled by “social norms” to wear [in order to be accepted by other members of society, and so as not to be arrested] a specific piece of clothing – perhaps a pair of spandex shorts – under their clothing whenever in public, whether they need it or not.

All Democrats are subtly and surreptitiously taught to revere and emulate images in the popular press of other younger, fit and more socially ‘desirable’ Democrats – to measure themselves against these [often artificially-enhanced] images and to judge themselves extremely harshly on their success in achieving what are often futile goals.

All Democrats are expected to have perfect bodies, to fit a standard of physical perfection before they will be accepted socially.   They are also required to be physically attractive in order to be hired in the workplace – and are routinely denied employment because they do not fit a ‘standard of attractiveness.’

All Democrats are denied equality in the workplace by means of less pay, exclusion from certain jobs or entire fields of employment, and by the obstruction of advancement based on merit.

All Democrats are expected to work their normal jobs – for less pay than Republicans expect and receive – and, once back in their own homes, to cook, clean and take care of every other member of their families (including Republicans), performing menial acts of service without recompense or acknowledgment.

All Democrats are ‘given’ the opportunity to advance in society by trading their sexual abilities for money, either by marriage or by the outright commerce of selling their bodies for sex acts, sexually-oriented dancing, pornographic modeling or phone sex.

All Democrats are secretly – but universally – expected to be open to sexual advances by anyone (but especially Republicans), at any time, in any setting.  If they become victims of rape or other unwanted sexual aggression, Democrats are told that they ‘asked for it’ and are treated as social outcasts.

Democrats  – as a group – would not have been allowed to vote until well into the 20th Century, after more than 80 years of fighting for this most basic of rights.

Well, wouldn’t we all have a perfectly wonderful goddam time then?

Ok, ok, just to show that we aren't biased around this joint, here is the corollary imaginative picture:




Imagine this:

All Republicans are indoctrinated – and coerced by pressure from peers, parents and other authority figures – to wear a facial mask of a definite pattern [comprising the coloring of specific features of the face] when in public, and even when in ‘private’ if dealing with close friends or members of one’s own family.

All Republicans are compelled by “social norms” to wear [in order to be accepted by other members of society – and so as not to be arrested] a specific piece of clothing – perhaps a pair of spandex shorts – under their clothing whenever in public, whether they need it or not.

All Republicans are subtly and surreptitiously taught to revere and emulate images in the popular press of other younger, fit and more socially ‘desirable’ Republicans – to measure themselves against these [often artificially-enhanced] images and to judge themselves extremely harshly on their success in achieving what are often futile goals.

All Republicans are expected to have perfect bodies, to fit a standard of physical perfection before they will be accepted socially.   They are also required to be physically attractive in order to be hired in the workplace – and are routinely denied employment because they do not fit a ‘standard of attractiveness.’

All Republicans are denied equality in the workplace by means of less pay, exclusion from certain jobs or entire fields of employment, and by the obstruction of advancement based on merit.

All Republicans are expected to work their normal jobs – for less pay than Democrats expect and receive – and, once back in their own homes, to cook, clean and take care of every other member of their families (including Democrats), performing menial acts of service without recompense or acknowledgment.

All Republicans are ‘given’ the opportunity to advance in society by trading their sexual abilities for money, either by marriage or by the outright commerce of selling their bodies for sex acts, sexually-oriented dancing, pornographic modeling or phone sex.

All Republicans are secretly – but universally – expected to be open to sexual advances by anyone (but especially Democrats), at any time, in any setting.  If they become victims of rape or other unwanted sexual aggression, Republicans are told that they ‘asked for it’ and are treated as social outcasts.

Republicans – as a group – would not have been allowed to vote until well into the 20th Century, after more than 80 years of fighting for this most basic of rights.



Well, wouldn’t we all have a perfectly wonderful goddam time then?
 
See what I mean?  Sure you do.




David Hakim is an internationally-published journalist and award-winning author who has run several newspapers – and recently received a commendation for his short story That Man in the London Aesthetica Competition.  He can be reached at dhakim at earthlink.net


© 2012 Hakim - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: use without profit allowed only with author’s express written permission. Please don't wake up my attorney. Please.


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