A Word on Equality

Every once in a while, some "good cop" feminist tries to make me understand my ignorant ways. Tells me that all they fight for is "equality", a few of the more intelligent ones direct me to Merriam-Webster for the definition and then go on about how there are so few women CEO's and what not. This kind irritates me the most. I'd rather have a radical killallmen hashtag types at my throat than one of these bludgeoning whatever little intelligence I have into oblivion. What they don't understand is that their concept of "equality" doesn't even start to make sense in the natural world. Equality, as a societal construct, simply corresponds to opportunity. Here's a little nugget that you'd do well to remember--Humans... Are... Not... Created... Equal. No man is born equal to another man, no woman is born equal to another woman, no man is born equal to another woman and vice-versa. Some are tall, some are short, some are geniuses, some are plain dumb, some can sing, some can dance, so on and so forth. For every woman who didn't become a CEO, there's probably the same or larger number of men who didn't make the cut either. But then that is logic, a language which seems to be spoken only by extraterrestrials these days. The only equality one should expect is equality in the eyes of the state, access to the same platforms and mechanisms. What you do with it or don't is your own problem, not anyone else's.

But these good cops blame the whole wide world because of the inequality in the "outcome". There's a reason why Serena Williams and Nadal don't play against each other, why Tania Sachdev and Vishy Anand don't play together, competitively. Men and women are inherently, irreconcilably, different. Sure, both can have representatives that can do amazing things atypically, but as a group, both have different aspirations, qualities, and drives. They excel at different things.The concept that because a certain gender, caste, religion or sect forms a certain percentage of any society, so they're entitled to the corresponding percentage based representations in all walks of life, is ignorant at best. Gender ideologues, reservation/quota supporters, communists..they all make this patently idiotic assumption. It's like a mob of angry parents from one community rioting outside a school saying why none of their children ever gets in the top 10, although they form 1/5th of the class. It's like primary school teachers going on dharna because they don't earn as much as chemical engineers.

It's called agency, a term which seems to be lost not just on feminists but the majority of the world's population. Your actions, you decisions..will have a reaction, will have a consequence. Take the case of the wage gap myth that most treat as gospel. This stupid theory has been debunked time and time again by various studies, but it'll never die. The myth of male privilege will never die. They just won't let it die. Be it laws, policies, anything and everything points in the exact opposite direction, but these myths endear because of these good cops.

The only privilege in the world is either political or economical. It probably affects around .0001% of people in the world that occupy the highest echelons of politics, business etc. It has nothing to do with gender. For the commoner, it's just usual life with all the problems that come with it. Women have problems and men have problems too. I don't suppose anyone thinks that the millions of rickshaw pullers in India are more privileged than Sonia Gandhi or any other Twitter Tumblr keyboard warrior just because they're male...? I saw something in my newsfeed the other day..someone shared an article from a women's magazine. The punchline went something like this "Indian girls--grow up, get married, have kids..why?". Hmmm..interesting, last time I checked it went something like this for men, and this goes for my own generation as well "Grow up, get a job, get a house, get married, have kids". A reasonable person would probably not see much of a difference. A buffoon somehow sees male privilege in there.

If anything, the problem one should have with that line of thought is the expectation bias. That line of thought is not about bestowing privileges, it's about giving responsibilities. Now, admittedly, that is one thing I vehemently disagree with, but then I don't see it changing. Men always have and always will be held responsible for everything. From family courts, to separation settlements, to child support, to psych counseling. My body my choice, your body but not your choice...yet you are still responsible for every single choice that has or hasn't been made. Heck, even feminist discourse runs along those line.

Of all the homeless in the world and this applies to India too, 80% are male, most pavement dwellers dying under the wheels of some drunk lunatic are male, close to a 100% dangerous and sub-human work related deaths are males. Yet, by some twisted sense of logic, reasonably intelligent looking big-bindi stalwarts proclaim "poverty only affects women" on national television. What's even more disturbing, is that this line of thought gets applauded by other reasonably intelligent looking people.

Whether it's genital mutilation, legal extortion, health, poverty or domestic violence (a phenomenon that's been proven by thousands of studies time and time again to be a gender neutral issue)...the only thing people are willing to give half the world, is apathy. "We hold up half the sky!" --yeah, and men are just raving lunatics trying to bring the other half down. UN spends billions, states spend billions in awareness programs, commissions, centers, shelter homes for one, but give a big fat thainga to the other.And the one thing, which is most depressing about this is the fact that the really important issues like child abuse and health always take a backseat. Some lump it together with women's ministries and commissions and we all know about "women and children first" don't we. Yeah, absolute balls...children first!!, pregnant women second..everyone else, get in line. Now that would be equality. Now of course, men are free to put their mothers, wives, daughters, sisters in front...and most probably would, but as a concept...does nobody find this absolute disregard for male life apalling?

Archaic laws and policies, due process is damned, special privileges for one and special punishments for the other. I don't really like the term feminazi...but it gets pretty close actually. Your rights end where my feelings start--that is pretty much the gist of the discourse. Nothing but saint-like behavior will make the cut for one, for the other...well..just don't kill anyone. But what do we know, this is equality. Err..no no...I'm sorry (I blame my male privilege for that grave oversight)..we still haven't achieved equality, much more needs to be done.

Has Al Gore Been Smoking Pot?

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The Newshour for Dummies

The Dangers of Religious Moderates

It’s been a while since I’ve written something controversial, or politically incorrect as some would say. It’s funny, the psychology of society; I haven’t even started and I already know it’s going to be controversial. Interesting, isn’t it? So what exactly drove me to write what I’m about to? Two things, basically, not really interconnected but not mutually exclusive either.

First, I recently read an article by Shahrukh Khan, which talks about being a Khan. I should mention here, to my discredit, that the article is more than a year old. Yes, I’m capable of finding rocks to live under for extended periods. It’s written beautifully of course, he’s a genius, and it’s a different matter that he has a tendency to go into goat mode on screen. Anyway, all of you who know me are aware how much I adore this man. As I said, the article is written very well, and I truly believe that he’s being honest about it. However, I must still disagree with the core point that he’s trying to make. Which brings us to our second point.

I recently saw a debate where Sam Harris was speaking on religious moderates and the implications of religious moderation if left unchecked. That got me thinking. Now, I’m not the sort of person who goes the extra mile to be politically correct. More often than not, one can find me speaking my mind. It’s a gift and a curse at the same time. But after listening to Harris, I realized I’m also a part of this moderate tribe in some ways. Saying it, but not really saying it, watching carefully, treading with caution. I said “some ways” because there are a few things I’ve always been clear on. Like the statement “all religions teach peace” or “all religions are essentially the same”. No, and you don’t even have to read the holy books to realize that. A mere glance at history should tell you that there are inherent and irreconcilable differences between religions, in both the teaching as well as the delivery. 

Christianity already had its field day with all the crusades, the inquisitions, the witch hunts and what not. However, there is a silver lining here—despite the violent past, Christianity revived itself. It has been a pretty modern and peaceful religion in the recent past. I mean, we even have the Pope and several high level clergymen willing to discuss things like pre-marital sex, homosexuality etc. Yes, there are some fringe elements who still employ coercive and/or exploitative conversion etc. and engage in random terrorism in North Eastern India, Northern Ireland etc. but otherwise, there’s not much to complain about, not on global level. But how did this happen? That is the bigger question. There’s not too much of a difference between the basic principles (ones that are of concern) of both Christianity and Islam. Both monotheistic, both totalitarian in nature, both condoning and sometimes even commanding slavery, torture and murder, and both based on messianic prophecies. Islam is much more strict and extreme of course. Apostasy means death and several other shenanigans. Christopher Hitchens often used to joke about this when people asked for his views on the persecution of Jews throughout history. He said, “When you reject 2 versions of the messiah in a row, you’re bound to have trouble”.

But I digress, back to the point. So what exactly happened that Christianity evolved? It’s pretty simple actually. The world went on, proper education systems happened, democracies came into existence, bilateral relations between countries prospered, free trade zones happened etc. People finally realized that God’s word does not make the world a better place. People realized that inclusion and tolerance are better than dogma. They realized it’s better to listen to good people around you than to blindly believe in ancient texts. People started questioning, a new wave of scientists, atheists, agnostics and skeptics came to the forefront. 

Nothing seems to be doing the trick when it comes to Islamic extremism though. That silver lining seems to grow darker paler every passing day. It’s pretty clear, something much more sinister is at work here. Sure, the crusaders attacked and killed in medieval times, but the modern Jihadi’s are ready to blow themselves up! When they aren’t doing that, they’re beheading little children and holding their heads as trophies. What is it exactly that commands such devotion? What kind of mind thinks this is holy? Do they really believe it to be the word of God? Does it have something to do with how they’re brought up? Does it have something to do with Madrasa teachings? I don’t know, but what I’m trying to say is that asking these questions shouldn’t be taboo.

Al Qaeda is planning the final Jihad, starting with India. ISIS has been doing things that make my blood curdle, then I go into fits of rage, and cry some times. It doesn’t take a particularly weak man to cry looking at the picture of a 4 year old little girl’s headless body. You pick any part of the world, and you won’t find it difficult to find examples of nutcase Islamic outfits. It’s been happening for quite a while now, and it shows no signs of stopping. A cartoon gets published and the whole world cowers in fear, an author writes a book and the whole world cowers in fear again. Bookstores get bombed, heads of state issue fatwas, one of the most modern societies of our times (Denmark) is forced to ignore its own constitution, Supreme Court judgements are overturned, Parliament gets attacked, trains and buses are bombed, markets are bombed, consulates are bombed, temples are bombed, churches are bombed, Red Cross offices are bombed…goes on and on and on. I’m sure, it’ll probably take the whole week if I continue with the examples of utter savagery. 

So what are the moderates saying about this? Well, the usual, but now they have two versions of it. First, it was “All religions teach peace”, now a significant number of them say “All religions are bad”. In a nutshell, first they played the 3 monkeys of Mahatma Gandhi, and now they’ve based their reasoning on a logical fallacy – because two things are more similar than dissimilar, therefore both are the same. See, this might look like a very noble stand to take, however, please note that the net result is still a big fat ZERO. Just sitting there and parroting the same lines ad nauseam is not only dishonest, it amounts to abetting violence in my opinion. This is possibly what a Jihadi thinks when he listens to all the moderates –“Hmm…so all these learned people feel we aren’t really any worse than anything out there. Oh well, that isn’t so bad, carry on brothers”. What you’re doing is providing an escape route to the extremist, when you really should have been the loudest and fiercest critic. Saying “oh they’re just mad men” doesn’t mean anything, and it accomplishes nothing. It is you, with your cowardly reason and pseudo-morality who is responsible for the terrorist stereotype in the first place. 

If good Muslims, and well-wishers from other groups don’t start tackling this issue head on, then I fear we’re doomed. If you really think these people are simply misled, well then the onus to bring them back to the civilized world lies with you, whether you’re a Muslim moderate or just generally a moderate. So Mr. Khan, I’m a big fan, and I know you’re not a terrorist, but I do have a suggestion. I take this as my first step towards shedding the extra kilos of “moderate” in me. You’re such a big personality, you’re media savvy, you’re pretty tech savvy as well, and your communication skills have always been above par when it comes to Bollywood. You’ve made a lot of noises in the last two decades; business, film-making and even social issues. Why is it that you cannot make a noise for something that clearly affects you much more than anything else? Trust me, you make the right noises and you’ll see some change at least. You make the same noises and you thrust everyone back into a self-pitying state powered by victim-hood syndrome that does more harm than good. More than that, it abets skipping of vital introspection.

P.S.—Please make Don 3 as soon as possible.

P.P.S.--As I post this, Arnab Goswami is rattling my eardrums about how deeply hurt he is about something idiotic Mohan Bhagwat said...again. Someone somewhere is harping about how all of this is a big fat conspiracy to malign a religion of peace. Facebook warriors are more interested in playing Sherlock Holmes to identify the funding channels (hint..it's the big bad USA). What next, Global Warming messing up their heads?