Here we are acting like a bunch of spoilt brats, complaining about the most trivial issues on planet earth, whilst no one seems to be paying attention to the real life and potentially existential threat that the CCP poses on the Western World.
If you are able to complain about your own government without being thrown in jail — you are not oppressed. If being rich means owning a Ferrari, or a house on the beach — you are not oppressed. If working 40 hours a week feels like a burden — you are not oppressed. Have any of these people ever zoomed out of their own myopic rabbit holes and actually had a look at what is happening around the rest of the world right now? Democracies are still a world wide minority compared to authoritarian governments, theocracies, and monarchies.
Freedom of speech is a privilege, not a danger or a threat. A Ferrari does not make you rich. Having clean drinking water, food in your fridge, and a roof over your head makes you rich. Having a full time job is not a form of modern day slavery. There are literally billions of people around the world who would do anything to have the privilege of being employed, so that they are able to financially provide for themselves, their families, and their communities.
I am not saying that the West doesn’t have its present day flaws or past indiscretions that it needs to atone for — but my god — take a look around and smell the roses once in a while. The West has been responsible for the age of reason, the enlightenment, the vast majority of scientific and technological advancements, the separation of church and state (by religious people I may add), and the institution of English common law — which is a miracle in and of itself. Gone are the days of the Salem witch trials: “tie her up and throw her in the ocean, if she sinks she is innocent, if she floats then she is guilty and will be hung”.
John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in the world and one of the richest men to ever live throughout human history. His net worth was 1.4 billion dollars (1937) and he alone was responsible for nearly 3% of the U.S. GDP, which would work out to be roughly 690 billion dollars by today's standards. Yet there was no amount of money that would have allowed John D. Rockefeller access to antibiotics, or to be able to watch coloured television, or to surf the web, or sit down and listen to music on his iPhone, or heat up his food in a microwave. These are all things that the richest man in the world in 1937 could only dream of doing and yet these are all things that even the poorest people in our societies can do with ease in the year 2022.
Is wealth really the master value in the equation of life? What does it mean to be wealthy? Does it mean the same thing here as it does in Yemen, Libya, or Uganda? Do you know that if you earn over $40,000 dollars a year, you are among the top 1% of earners worldwide? Collectively we seem to have no idea about our own ancient or modern history, or about how good we actually have it today by any historical metric.
So much has been made of abortion recently with the overturning of Roe v.s Wade. Women undoubtedly carry a much greater responsibility and heavier load than men when it comes to child birth. A man cannot carry a child to term. He does not have to go through all of the physical, mental, and hormonal changes that women do during this entire process. All men can do, and absolutely should do, is say “you take care of our baby, and I will make sure that I take care of you”.
Just as when wars breaks out, it is the men who carry a much greater responsibility and heavier load than women. It was all of the men aged between 16 and 60 who were not allowed to flee Ukraine when the war broke out. Women and children only. All men in the above age bracket must stay and fight. All women can do, and absolutely should do, is say “you take care of me, and I will make sure that I take care of our baby”
Both of the above situations can be viewed as “unfair” or “unequal” — because they are. However this is the true reality of the situation. This isn’t some made up utopian fairytale. We cannot move forward as a society if we are always in a state of "us versus them". We need to work together as a team, embrace our roles, and work with each other to try and create a better and more prosperous future for the next generations to come.
The relationship between the sexes seems to have taken a moral hit recently. Men aren't being raised to be men. There seems to be an avalanche of Peter Pan syndrome permeating through our culture on the men's front. On the women's side of the aisle, for some bewildering reason, the most important job on earth (raising children) is now being demonised. Apparently being a CEO or a "girl boss" is the most salient occupation a women can obtain.
I want to make it clear that there is nothing wrong with this either. If that's what you want to do then go for it. Equality of opportunity is something that we should all fight for and be on the side of. Just please don't look at the women who decide to raise their kids full time as "less than". Pretty much all of my male friends with kids tell me that a day at home with their child is more exhausting than a laborious and physical twelve hour shift at work.
Think about what is written on every single tomb stone in every single cemetery on earth. It isn't Google CEO, business magnate, angel investor, neurosurgeon, is it? No... it is instead, loving wife and mother, loving husband and father.
There are feminine instincts that burn deep inside most women and there are masculine instincts that burn deep inside most men. The overwhelming drive of unconditional love that most women feel towards children, is the same overwhelming drive of protection that most men feel towards women. The same drive that makes most women want to spend every waking minute with their babies, is the same drive that makes most men willing to die to protect their women. Do men want to spend time with their babies? Of course. Are women willing to die to protect their men? Absolutely. However I think we can all agree which one is better qualified for each respective job.
If a war breaks out with China, and if Australia is involved, I know that I will be there. Ostensibly for all of my fellow countrymen and women — but primarily for my Mum, my sister, and my girlfriend. They are the protagonists in my story. They are the ones who would make me wholeheartedly unafraid of death. In fact I would welcome it. So long as it ensured their safety.
