The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Monday, December 10, 2012

We are all "special"


The concept of "minority" is a political construct. Think about it, we are all members of some minority or another. Take me, for example:

I am white (about 16% of the world population), I am Anglo-Saxon, and I was born into a Protestant family. A WASP, if you will. However, I am male ( barely a majority in world population but a minority in the U.S.) and, rejecting that Protestant birthright, atheist (a minority everywhere), making me a WASA... an acronym I just made up. I am also in the top 5 percentile in intelligence* (based on IQ tests)... definitely a minority. I am also heterosexual which definitely puts me in the majority.

I am sure you could do the same with yourself. Something, probably most things, about you constitute some kind of minority status. Not only that but you have moved into and out of minority status as you went through life. If you were born and/or raised in the U.S., you were a citizen of a single state of the 48 (when I was born) or 50 (after 1959).

In my case, I was a citizen of New York (before April of 1956) and then a citizen of Florida (from April of 1956 to December of 1969). After that, my home state changed randomly.

And, as an American, I am also part of a minority in the world. I am also a part of another minority, a large one; the Baby Boomers in the U.S. As a child, I was a minor and also a minority of the population. And then as a teenager, also in the minority. I served in the military and, even more, during a military conflict and served in what was called a "combat zone."

My point is that the actual status of minority has more to do with where you live and when you live and who is in power than it does with skin color and ethnicity. 


Just something to think about.


And here is something to chuckle about:


*This does not mean I am smart, merely that I handle tests very well. The dumb things I have done in my life prove that.

 

2 comments:

Tom said...

Perceptive post. I'm a white male. I didn't do anything. Why does everyone hate me so much?

Luv your video -- their reaction, I don't think that's in the minority!

Douglas said...

Thanks. It's a case of stereotyping, I think.

That video cracked me up... especially the ending.