“I never asked to be born”
Have you ever cried that out in defiance? Maybe you were just guilty of being a petulant child who didn’t enjoy being forced to take a bath from a seemingly authoritative parent. It’s more than likely they just felt it would be in your best interest to not walk around smelling like feces, urine, and body odour. Yet despite their good intentions you screamed in protest because it went against the current plans you had for yourself at that moment. The chances are highly likely that the plans you had for that particular moment were not very well thought out to begin with. This is, of course, under the assumption that you were just a cranky kid and not some prodigy that’s rare talents were never realized due to an exorbitant amount of forced tub time at the hands of cruel child abusers. I have been that child. No, not the prodigy. The whiny little snot.
It took me some time to actually realize that my parents were only looking out for me. In hindsight I think that their brash decision making has probably made me a better man. I certainly have had more opportunities presented to me through social interactions. No doubt a huge majority of other folks are able to spend more time in my presence because I don’t smell like shit. It’s been proven by scientists that the occasional bath or shower dramatically increases the likelihood of sexual participation with someone other than one’s self. Mind you, an effort is still required but the odds increase when the hygiene factor is involved.
It has been my experience that I’m able to engage in conversation even more attentively if the person that I’m talking with doesn’t repulse me with an unpleasant aroma. Hmm..Who would’ve thought? Smell can dictate just how serious we are willing to consider another’s perspective. Still though, it is always good to remember that just because a person smells good that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not full of shit.
Even as adults we cuss and sulk when things don’t go the way we planned. Just because you like someone it’s not an automatic guarantee that they’re going to like you back. Perhaps you think you’re not shown enough appreciation or gratitude from those around you. Be it at work, family, or just life in general. Guess what? They are completely different souls than you. It’s possible that they’re hung up with the very same fact that you don’t show them enough appreciation and gratitude. It is a two-way street.
The fact is that we are all born into this world alone. We exist as individuals. Granted we co-exist collectively but even that is tenuous at best. There are currently well over 8 billion other people who share existence with us on this planet. Each and everyone of them has a completely different take on things and every take is going to be different than your own. It’s not that your own personal view is necessarily wrong, it’s just that it’s very specifically your own. In that regard, you are definitely alone. It’s not that you have to be lonely. It is a given fact that you are an individual!
As babies, a time will come when we first become aware of the environment that surrounds us. It’s inevitable that our mindset is going to be strongly influenced by the people and circumstances that we are presented with. I’m assuming that most infants aren’t even aware of their sex or skin colour until they’re eventually made aware of it. Possibly through seeing it with their own eyes or being privy to information passed along discreetly by their parents. Pertinent information will also be made known to you by random strangers who may lack the subtlety of loving parents.
Are these children born into wealth, poverty, or somewhere in the middle? That could take years to figure out definitively. For example, you may grow up thinking that you’ve been raised in a lower middle class family because that’s what you’ve been led to believe. An authority figure can point that out to you by saying, “This a lower middle class environment”. Naturally you believe them. This is because they are authority figures and they can make your life a little less enjoyable if you choose to not believe them.
Let’s say you grew up in an apartment complex in Toronto, Canada. You live with two siblings and a single parent. Kraft dinner and hot dogs were a staple in your diet. You may not even be aware of your social status until it begins to become evident at school. You begin to notice that some of the other kids seem to wear newer clothes and have way cooler toys. Eventually through naivete you broach this subject with your single parent. They might tell you the truth and they may not.
Perhaps they’ll tell you that the other kids come from inherited wealth and then attempt a lame effort at explaining the folly of capitalism to you. It’s highly unlikely that it’s going to resonate with you at eleven years old. I can tell you that this story always ends with the same sad conclusion: The rich get richer and your family is a victim of this cruel class system. (It’s also the perfect time for an opportunistic parent to gently introduce the concept of lowered Christmas expectations to their kids.)
What they probably don’t tell you is that both Mom and Dad loved to party back in the day. Remember when you all lived together as a family in that house with the two cars in the drive? That was a few years ago though and, at eleven years of age, your memories are likely hazy at best.
They were both so much younger themselves back then and probably didn’t realize they were living a life that they could not afford. If truth be told, they were just basically bigger kids than you. They’re also very likely not going to mention the gratuitous amounts of money spent on booze and cigarettes and the thousands of dollars wasted on lawyers, whose sole purpose was to help fuck over the other when things finally went south. Spite definitely comes with a price tag.
Then there is always that shrewdest of maneuvers! This is where the parent points out to their children over a bowl of kraft dinner and weiners that they are a helluva lot more fortunate than a “lower middle class” family in other parts of the world. This helps grown-ups avoid the embarrassment of having to face the music for their own poor decisions of the past.
“There are millions of poor kids in Africa who would looove to be able to enjoy your no-name mac and cheese and processed chicken wieners!”
Sadly, that is all too true. There are a great many individuals who reside in those less fortunate areas where the convenience of a No-Frills supermarket does not exist. I wonder what those parents tell their kids.
Speaking to the prospect of us ultimately being of individual thought and opinion, it seems like the perfect time to talk about God. (Please take note that I begin the spelling of God with a capital letter. I’m not trying to reduce this wonderful and all-encompassing deity to a mere noun. It’s merely that this is the name we use for something/someone that we don’t really know much about. Surely worthy of a capital letter!)
Regarding this subject, I will state for the record that I firmly believe in God. What exactly God is extends far beyond my learning capacity. I am sure about that and I have no problem in the knowledge that I am not meant to be privy to all information at this time. Now if you ask me which version of God I accept to be the one true God, I honestly can’t answer that. The reason being that I, as my own individual thinker, do not accept any organized religion whatsoever. None.
With 8 billion other individual thinkers come countless religions and rules. All of them lay claim to an inside knowledge of enlightenment and eternal life like some holy online betting website. I sincerely believe it all to be a glorious con.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, this is called politics. As a young child we are basically told what our religion is by a trusted adult, be it your parents or otherwise. You’re also instructed with stern caution as you get a little older that you should not mix religion and politics. Do you ever wonder why that is? Probably because it’s only inevitable that you’re going to discover that they are virtually the same thing. Religion is politics and politics is religion!
Do you ever notice how all of the big name religions are spread across the world geographically? As well, it’s not a coincidence that all of those religions seem to align themselves with a different political ideology. I suspect that this is how a very tiny, fractional percentile of those 8 billion people are able to control the vast majority of the rest of us. That’s why that same small group also controls all of the money. (However that’s another chapter entirely).
We are all susceptible to being manipulated through our great fear of the unknown. That fear is the uncertainty of what is going to happen to us after we die. The actual mortal death part is pretty well agreed upon by most. It is out of this fear that some shrewd weasel developed the concept of religion as a way to benefit his personal agenda, whether it be for power, money or recognition. As vile and unscrupulous as it may be, you’ve got to hand it to the evil mastermind that first developed this scam.
You can successfully manipulate people’s greatest fears with the promise of salvation and eternal life. It sounds pretty good. If you properly set up the foundation and provide rules that make common sense then you’re likely to capture the attention of many. That’s a literal army that can follow your leadership towards any diabolical scheme of your choosing. Whatever the motivation may be, you have succeeded in your efforts to convince the masses to do your bidding.
Not to mention the wealth you can accrue with the guilt trip that sin provides! It’s a miracle to see how charitable cash donations are able to temporarily alleviate the ensuing guilt of indiscretion. Through continued financial support you can promise these marks that they remain in the good graces of the deity that you have duped them into believing so faithfully. That’s because you know this deity well. That’s not even a lie because at that point you are this false god. (False gods are not worthy of a capital letter in my book!)
There’s a whole lotta folks with extremely different religious backgrounds. Most of them love their children and are good, fair people. In their hearts they know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad. Are we to believe that only a fraction of them are worthy of those oft rumoured heavenly rewards? That only one very specific religion is the right one? Come on now, there’s no way! If that was to be the case then most of us would have been doomed from the start.
I don’t think we would have been created if it was merely to be punished for grovelling before a statue at the wrong address. Then that would make our creator a bit of a psychopath, wouldn’t it? While we’re on the topic, does God even want us to literally grovel at his feet? That seems a tad narcissistic to me. Dare I suggest even somewhat “Trumpian”? Again, personally speaking, I don’t believe that to be true in either regard. That’s not the God that I believe in.
Perhaps I’m being presumptuous, but I think that the average sane person residing anywhere in the world has a conscience.(Remember, I said SANE!) Within that conscience comes a very definitive set of rules that I think we all try to abide by. Lying, cheating, stealing. These are things that we realize are bad and avoiding indulgence in these practices is a rule that we try to adhere to. This is because we do have a conscience and we do want to be
good.
Killing another person is probably high on most peoples “don’t do” list as well. It certainly doesn’t mean we are always able to unequivocally follow this unspoken rule. Afterall, how many people have been killed due to conflicting religious/political convictions over the years? Countless millions. Who does the killing in these wars? The very same people who are told not to kill in the first place. You can rest assured that the very people who told you that killing was bad aren’t going to actually kill anybody themselves. They’re just going to convince you to kill instead so they don’t have to risk staining their own conscience or clothes .
What about the soldiers themselves? Are the warriors who have been convinced to do the killing bound for eternal damnation? Probably not. It wouldn’t require an expensive attorney to make their case before God. We call God the “higher power” for a reason. Higher power suggests a wisdom beyond our own. Even a mortal of average intelligence knows that the leaders who instructed the soldiers to kill are actually the ones who should be punished. They are the false gods! It is almost enough to make you scream “I never asked to be born!”.
The very notion that we weren’t asked to be born in the first place is kind of a pathetic excuse for a failed opportunity, isn’t it? Are we assuming that we existed prior to our conception? That we somehow actually had a choice to begin with? I honestly can’t answer that because I don’t know. I don’t think we’re supposed to know and that’s the whole point.
What I do know for certain is that somewhere in our journey we’ll find the answers to all the questions that we ask. Despite all the trials and tribulations, the pain, and the unwanted baths, it is an incredible ride that we should never take for granted. So the next time somebody comes out with the “I never asked to be born” line, perhaps it’s best to just accept the fact that they’re either a young infant or an incredibly stupid adult. If it’s the latter then try to resist the urge of snapping, “Well the rest of us didn’t ask you to be born either. So take a number and shut the hell up, you whiny little bitch!” There is not a single one among us who had control over how they came in and how we ultimately go out is pretty much the same scenario. However, the manner in which we choose to represent ourselves while we’re here is entirely in our hands. That is the relevant part.