Sunday, August 4, 2013

Bride of Frankenstein

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Many pundits see the first trans-gender contestant in Donald Trump's “Miss Universe Contest” as a breakthrough from the historical simplicity of gender, claiming that the amazing beauty on stage was living proof that sex is more complicated than male and female, and that introducing personal feelings and choice to an otherwise cold and indifferent fact is simply the result of human compassion and ingenuity. I see this as the latest assault on reason and common sense by the harbingers of deception and confusion. Why do some people insist that truth cannot be simple and easily understood?

The refusal to acknowledge that gender is either male or female demonstrates the same stubborn stupidity as slogans like “Guns don't kill people, people kill people”, or “It's the economy, stupid!” The truth is simple – guns are designed and promoted to be used as weapons to maim and kill other people. And in a society where the wasted meals from restaurants could feed the entire homeless population of every city, and where giant, heated office towers stand empty every night while people cower in cardboard boxes in the street, there is no thought for economy in our present system.

Perhaps the tenacity of this ignorance is rooted in the desperation to be in charge of our own destiny, but attempting to reorder the universe to fit personalized specifications can become extremely complicated (and enormously expensive), so we usually settle for changing “reality” to suit our aspirations instead. We can all pretend that the Fukushima disaster is safely behind us, that the financial experts will solve the debt crisis, and that a war with Iran, or Russia, or China, ..., is necessary to guarantee lasting peace in the region and around the world. And while we're at it, we can just ignore the fact that the Miss Universe crown might go to a modern upgrade of the Bride of Frankenstein.

It seems to me that the simple answer is to find the serenity to accept those things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference.

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