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
