Reality is tough. Many people can't handle truth, so they have to invent fiction.
I think this accounts for many of the phenomena we've seen recently.
Item: Bruce Jenner decides he's really a woman. So he has his genitals mutilated, has breasts implanted, and undergoes hormone therapy and emerges as Caitlyin Jenner.
But the reality is Caitlyn Jenner is not a woman. Caitlyn Jenner is a man with mutilated genitals, breast implants, and hormone therapy.
Item: Rachel Dolazel declares she is black.
But the reality is Rachel Dolazel is a white woman, born of white parents, who has darkened her skin and kinked her hair. Rachel Dolazel is a white woman.
Item: Homosexuals want to marry each other with a couple having a "husband" and "husband" and a "wife" and a "wife". But a couple consists of a husband and wife. They are merely two men or two women coopting the accepted terms and pretending it now applies to them too.
Item: President Obama declares Yemen a success in his foreign policy. But the truth is Yemen represents a terrible failure, where the embassy staff had to evacuate in a hurry and the guards made to leave their weapons behind. Obama is coopting the language of success and applying it to a failure to mask that failure.
What accounts for this and what can we do about it? It reminds me of the story of the Emperor's new clothes, where the clever tailor persuades the Emperer that he is wearing the finest suit. It is a social faux pas to point ou thte Emperor is naked so everyone goes along with the fiction of the Emperor's new clothes. Until one small boy shouts out the obvious, the Emperor has no clothes, and once the spell is broken everyone else sees. it. We need that small boy to shout out the obvious: reality is not created by people speaking. Reality is created by reality.
I think this accounts for many of the phenomena we've seen recently.
Item: Bruce Jenner decides he's really a woman. So he has his genitals mutilated, has breasts implanted, and undergoes hormone therapy and emerges as Caitlyin Jenner.
But the reality is Caitlyn Jenner is not a woman. Caitlyn Jenner is a man with mutilated genitals, breast implants, and hormone therapy.
Item: Rachel Dolazel declares she is black.
But the reality is Rachel Dolazel is a white woman, born of white parents, who has darkened her skin and kinked her hair. Rachel Dolazel is a white woman.
Item: Homosexuals want to marry each other with a couple having a "husband" and "husband" and a "wife" and a "wife". But a couple consists of a husband and wife. They are merely two men or two women coopting the accepted terms and pretending it now applies to them too.
Item: President Obama declares Yemen a success in his foreign policy. But the truth is Yemen represents a terrible failure, where the embassy staff had to evacuate in a hurry and the guards made to leave their weapons behind. Obama is coopting the language of success and applying it to a failure to mask that failure.
What accounts for this and what can we do about it? It reminds me of the story of the Emperor's new clothes, where the clever tailor persuades the Emperer that he is wearing the finest suit. It is a social faux pas to point ou thte Emperor is naked so everyone goes along with the fiction of the Emperor's new clothes. Until one small boy shouts out the obvious, the Emperor has no clothes, and once the spell is broken everyone else sees. it. We need that small boy to shout out the obvious: reality is not created by people speaking. Reality is created by reality.
