Listening to David Bowie’s “China Girl” this morning reminded me that I wanted to make a post about prejudice.

I have a pretty simple explanation as to why prejudice is such a trigger/hot topic these days. It wasn’t such an issue not that long ago, right? People at least *somewhat* freely joked about it to some capacity without fear of being outed as a racist/sexist/etc. One good example I can think of is how Family Guy handles it.

The reason there is such extreme backlash today is because, at least in the U.S., when 45 became POTUS he actually *meant* the things he said. He wasn’t joking. It became real, serious. This behavior by the “leader” of such a nation enabled countless others with those same tendencies to open their stupid mouths because they felt he had their back. Then those being spoken against reacted (as they should). The pendulum started swinging back and forth, and that’s where it all got out of control and we lost our minds in a fight to simply justify our own dispositions.

Actually, I’d like to think that with the events of the past 3 years things have settled things down a bit, but the damage had already been done to set progress back significantly. I hope we get back to the point where a joke can be treated as such: a harmless observation made in jest with absolutely no offense intended. As a white American male I can definitely laugh at jokes aimed at my heritage and culture as long as there is no underlying notes of lurking actual hatred. The absence of that hate is what makes all the difference, I believe, whereas we can simply acknowledge the uniqueness of different cultures, ethnicities, sexual orientations, etc. again without fear of being “cancelled”.

For one to think they’re “better” than any other living thing in this universe is simply ignorant. Variety is the spice of life, it’s what makes us individuals, what makes us so special. We need to celebrate our differences.

Categorised as: Blogs | Philosophy | Political