Privileges, Fairness, Irony
- Ondy Ho
- Feb 24, 2019
- 4 min read
We live in an interesting world, don't you think?
The world started simple, kill or be killed. Nowadays, we may call it savagery. Thousands of years later, with fewer animals, more people, more buildings and better technologies, we seem to have only discovered more things rather than evolving. We created the term "human rights" and yet not all humans have the same rights; not all humans consider rights rights. That sounds funny but that's because IT IS.
Obviously, I believe in human rights and I certainly am not here to make fun of those who have/had fought for this equality/freedom we have now. However, what once was a noble act, has become somewhat a joke by the new generation of "activists".
Do you think we/you live in a society of privileges and unfairness?
Can any one have privileges? The president? A pregnant woman? A beggar?
Does equality mean "treated the same"?
Why do we even ask these stupid questions you might ask? Well, for starters, we have achieved to move on from survival and are looking for a deeper meaning of our existence. Also, there are people who seem to be fighting for humanity but indeed trying to set it backward. The point of all is well-spoken by Alita.
"I will not stand by in the presence of evil".
I believe we live in a country founded on law. There's a system that tells what's right or wrong by a standard. However, there are things not written under the law. That's for certain. Besides, there are things that are inapplicable by it too. As the saying goes, rules are dead and made to be broken. Emotions, culture, customs aren't really something to be regulated. Therefore, they are sometimes included when judging a case.
Why do some people receive different treatments in a lawful country? In other words, why privileges exist in Taiwan. I really don't know, nor care. What I do know is that they are exceptions, not the rule/norm. Why do some criminals get to be released early or innocent? Why corrupted politicians walk away from trials? It just happens... No reason, unless we spend a great amount of time case-studying. We get news like these on a weekly/monthly basis that we forget to see beyond this "injustice" we think. Hey... you know what's NOT on the news--- when every OTHER thing is going right.
Instead of nitpicking, hating on it, why not look on the bright/other side for a change?
Life in Taiwan is fair. Yes, I said fair. It doesn't mean that everyone's happy or has the same condition but everyone has the same opportunity to pursue a goal. If you're poor, work hard and fix it; If you're sick, work hard to catch a break. What's making us feel unfair is usually jealousy, seeing the good lives of others and trying to apply right away, neglecting the efforts behind their story. I am not poor nor rich. I don't make a lot of money but I make the amount of money that I choose to. Complaints only make life worse.
So who is making a U-turn to our progress on humanity? Who is talking about that "everyone should be treated the same regardless of gender"? Gender rights activists, feminists or in this case, I refer those as the "new feminists". They are those who are constantly trying to create the phenomenon that women are inferior to men and that they need to "fight" for equality based on gender. To be honest, "fight" is a strong word, considering their fight is almost always on the internet and not on the streets or in congress where it matters.
-women don't have the same opportunity as men to have a parallel salary for the same job.
-women don't have the same opportunity as men to get promotions as easy
-women don't have the same opportunity as men in family or society
-women don't have the same freedom as men to express themselves verbally, physically...etc.
Do you ever feel it in Taiwan? I need especially female readers to help me out because I don't. That last point is perhaps the more visible one on social media, where new feminism started. Yes, there are sexist people who leave mean comments on how women dress or show their body in a certain way. But really, that has nothing to do with this country. We simply cannot have the freedom of speech and then regulate how people talk. That's not democracy. Remember what we used to say about "haters be haters"? "Let it go" and keep being yourself without breaking the law. It's really that simple.
This is the time in history where we learn so much knowledge of the world and yet not human relationships. We cannot physically fight to hurt each other like ancient times but we attack each others' feelings. We are as savage as before, except in different ways. Deep down, we're still dumb creatures, most of us. Humanity is walking on a treadmill with these fake activists. If we keep looking at gender issues instead of "just people", we will be hysterical, asking for problems to solve.
Often times, I find that the more developed we think we have become, the more specific issues we look into, the stupider we appear... We must keep reminding ourselves to aim for the real goal, the betterment for all, not any particulars. In an era of individualism, we may want to also recall generalism so we don't fall into the trap of either.
ps. I'd like to see actual gender inequality cases in Taiwan, if anyone knows of...
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