Get Off The Friggin' Bandwagon

I've never understood why some people seem to be addicted to jumping on to whatever bandwagon just happens to be rolling along. Maybe that's because I have bigger concerns in my life than trying to ban sugar from breakfast cereals because it causes dental decay and makes some children hyperactive. Or, maybe it is simply because no one is putting a gun to my head and forcing me to buy the stuff when I don't want to. I figure that if it's that bad, then don't buy. Period. If no one buys it, then the manufacturer will stop making it.

Hell, if not enough people buy it, the manufacturer will stop making it. Unilever did it to Prior Park tea, despite it being well-loved and the favorite tea of one of our First Nations.

I seem to live by an older, saner version of reality where people weigh the pros and cons of various options, and come to decisions on their own. In fact, I am quite positive that the vast majority of average people still do. It's just that a small and vocal minority who are painfully loud in voicing their opinions, and shaming others into either silence or submission - at least I hope that is the case. If it isn't, our society is in deep trouble.

As I mentioned at the outset, I have wondered long and hard as to why some people seem so prone to embracing the 'cause du jour', and their sometimes fanatical devotion to these causes. By taking these 'causes' to extremes, and being willfully blind to any and all arguments that might mitigate a hard and fast stance on the issue, I believe that more harm is being done than good. So, putting my Steemit reputation on the line, I am going to take down a couple of the more offensive bandwagons out there.

Image: http://clipart-library.com

'Rape Culture' / The Definition of Rape

When I was somewhere around thirteen years old, my sister was raped. She wasn't raped by some man staring at her on a bus, or by some guy who tried to kiss her when she didn't want him to, or by her date asking her 'do you want to fuck?'. No, she was raped the old-fashioned way; by a stranger who broke into her apartment, and cut the phone lines before doing the deed. As the sister of a real-life rape victim, I find the way that modern 'feminists' are trivializing it to be utterly revolting, and highly insulting to women who have actually gone through the real thing.

Let me make this clear: sexual harassment is not equivalent to sexual assault. If a construction worker whistles at you, it is not the same as being threatened with a knife or gun while being forced to perform various sexual acts. Heck, it barely even qualifies as sexual harassment, unless it is followed up with vulgar, derogatory and/or insulting remarks. In order for something to be termed 'harassment' the action needs to be of a clearly persistent and unwelcome nature. A guy whistling at you isn't grounds on which to base an harassment allegation, unless he does it multiple times daily, and you've made it quite clear that you find it offensive.

Sexual harassment accusations should be reserved for actual incidences where inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances took place. This might be at the workplace where a superior calls you into his/her office, and demands sexual favors in exchange for a promotion, or simply in order to keep your job. It could be co-worker who keeps staring at you while jerking off under his desk. It has to be more than just a couple of glances in your direction. If you've ever had the dubious honor of feeling like the filling in an Oreo cookie as two colleagues sandwich you between them, you probably already know and appreciate the difference between a harmless glance and the real thing.

I will add to this that a person approaching you at a popular nightclub/pick-up joint, and inquiring as to whether or not you'd be interested in doing the horizontal-tango with them isn't 'rape', and it isn't 'rape culture' that is "permitting" it to happen. You're in a pick-up spot, for f*ck's sake! If you feel 'violated' simply because a man approached you and expressed his interest in you, without force or any threats being made, then you are the one with the problem, my dear. I am also quite sure that you are about the only person in the joint who feels violated at being approached. In fact, there are probably several women who haven't been approached that envy you. They are, after all, there because they're looking for a hook-up. If you can't make up your mind what it is that you came in search of, then maybe you who shouldn't be there.

The gist of this is that instead of lumping everything together and calling it "rape culture", women today need to learn how to distinguish sexual harassment, and normal (if crude) interactions, from legitimate rape. I would have thought that was a no-brainer, but obviously it isn't - at least for some people.

Wrapping up, as the relative of a rape survivor, I would appreciate it if women did not to cheapen the experiences of those women who have gone through the real deal by equating it with their own experiences of being 'looked at', or 'spoken to' in what may, or may not, have been a sexual manner. When you do this, you are destroying the credibility of the real victims of real rapes.

I am attaching the video below because it contains portions of another video that was later deleted. I think T.J. Kirk (formerly 'the Amazing Atheist') does a wonderfully tasteless take-down of the video in question, though. 😇

Adopt, Don't Shop? Not For Everyone!

This bandwagon may seem trivial after the previous one, however it affects the most helpless and vulnerable of the living, breathing beings among us: our pets. As such, I find the 'adopt, don't shop' mantra to be pernicious in the extreme because it attempts to impose a one-size fits all pet-adoption methodology on the general public that completely ignores the common-sense concept of matching your pet to your lifestyle.

Let's start off with an examination of why pets land in shelters in the first place. For dogs, it is usually behavioral issues such as barking, biting, or other aggressive/undesirable behaviors. Cats are usually abandoned during moves, with a small number being dumped because of things such as inappropriate urination (territory marking), and 'lack of time' (for breeds such as Persians which require high maintenance). Oftentimes, pets are abandoned because of issues with the family's children. I would also estimate that the vast majority of cats in shelter are quite used to going outside - and this is going to be a big issue in certain adoptions.

Okay, let's start off with your urge to get a pet. What is the first thing that you should do? Browse at a shelter or refuge? No. The first thing that you need to do is to determine what sort of an animal fits into your lifestyle, and what you can afford to invest into your pet. Pets are expensive, remember that. They also place demands on your time and attention. Do you live in an apartment, or do you live in a house? Do you live alone, or is there someone else who can share in the pet-caring responsibilities? Do you have children? All of these questions need to be taken into account before bringing a pet into the house. This is where breed become very important.

Both dogs and cats have breeds, and each breed has specific characteristics. If you live in a one-bedroom apartment and work long hours, the last thing you should get is a Bengal cat, or a German Shepard dog. It is strongly recommended that you do your research on the various breeds before going out and getting your pet. A lot of purebreds end up in pounds and shelters because people saw XYZ breed on t.v. and decided that they just had to have one like that - and found out after they got the animal that Lassie needs a lot of care, or Morris can't stand kids.

Now, to the animals that you find in shelters and pounds. Yes, they are lovely. Yes, they are cute. Yes, they are heartbreaking. But think before you take one home! Is the animal a good match for you? If you live in an apartment, you are going to face two big problems when it comes to adopting a shelter animal: barking (noise), and the issue of the animal's access to the outdoors. Shelter 'advisers' can't tell the animal's history or habits, because they don't know them. It is for this reason that I believe people who live in apartments need to adopt from shelter with extreme caution. If you live in a house, it is easier to accommodate a cat who just has to go outside, despite your efforts to turn him into a nice indoors-kitty. Barking issues are also more easily accommodated when you own a house, as are certain behavioral problems.

I will give you a brief example: a vet tech took home a gorgeous male cat, not knowing that he urinated inappropriately. He promptly urinated on her new bed, and she had to take him back to the clinic for re-homing with someone else. The vet's brother saw the cat, fell in love, and immediately adopted him. This adoption was successful because the brother lived out in the country, and the cat could roam outside to his heart's content. The cat, however, has quite a temper, and woe be the person who does not let him go out ASAP!

I could write pages of stories like the one above, and not all of them would end happily. One dog in my sister's neighborhood had to have his vocal chords cut, or go right back to the shelter. I had to let a beautiful boy that I saved from being euthanized go live with my sister's family because he refuses to stay indoors, and I can't let him out where I live. The stories of failed shelter adoptions are numerous, and I don't think it fair to the animal when it gets sent right back to the pound for behaving in the way that it is accustomed to.

When you purchase a pet from a breeder, you know what you are getting. You even have an idea of hereditary health issues. For people that have no room for a wildcard, knowing what you are getting, and getting what fits best, is the best option. Registered breeders also usually won't sell their kittens and puppies to just anybody, plus they tend to breed their animals only once or twice a year. I can go on about the benefits of responsible breeders, about how I believe that they are the solution to the problem of abandoned pets, but the 'adopt, don't shop' people are too brainwashed to even listen.

Brainwashed, you ask? By whom? Well, think of this: as long as they have a plentiful supply of abandoned pets, shelters will continue to exist. Now ask yourself, 'are shelters the best organizations to take advice from on how to deal with the problem of pet-dumping?'. The answer is that they have a huge stake in keeping the supply coming. So, maybe we should be looking for advice elsewhere, don't you think? Maybe from veterinarians and registered breeders? Maybe people should bring the pets that they no longer want to their local vet, and the vet get a subsidy from the government to care for and re-home abandoned pets, instead of subsidizing shelters? Several veterinary clinics in my area already do this, and could do more of it, and do it better than 'shelters' do.

There are other options, options that could control the placement of pets from the outset. Unfortunately, the 'adopt, don't shop' people have been so poisoned against 'those evil breeders' that they completely fail to see that if we controlled the pet supply by channeling it through registered breeders, the problem of pet abandonment could be nipped in the bud. If we are truly committed to solving this issue, we need to think outside of the box we are currently in. Sadly, bandwagon jumpers are so locked into the existing thought-boxes that they are, once again, prevent solutions and making a bad situation even worse.

Image: pixabay

There are more bandwagons that I'd like to blast, but for today I'm done. I will have to save my obervation on how the advances women have made are now being threatened by both the political right and the political left, and how we are inexorably being forced back into the kitchen, for another time. In the meantime, read this article: The New Feminism is a Threat to Womens Liberation from Spiked.