Thursday, August 17, 2017

Still? Again?

A myth is defined as a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon

Men Think About Sex Every Seven Seconds

“Due to unilateral development resulting from Olympic style canoeing, women’s bodies (e.g., reproductive organs) would be damaged, potentially causing infertility, stunting feminine development, or causing lopsided development.”

Women's empowerment comes at the expense of men

girls can't do math or science

women crack under pressure

women are the fairer sex

women love weddings

women are best suited to monogamy

it's a mans world

she asked for it

women are gold diggers

women can't be trusted with money

women can't lead

a woman's health is not a man's concern

women belong in marriage not school

a woman's place is in the home

weight gain is inevitable as you age

everyone loses brain power (cognitive ability) as they age

how you age is all genetically determined

Fingernails and hair keep growing after death

black people are lazy
black people are athletic--its that extra bone in their leg
black people have great voices
black people have rhythm
black people love chicken and watermelon

Sugar makes your kids crazy

Lightning never strikes the same place twice

Eating watermelon seeds will give you an appendicitis


HUMANS USE ONLY 10 PERCENT OF THEIR BRAIN

“LEFT BRAIN” and “RIGHT BRAIN” PEOPLE DIFFER

YOU MUST SPEAK ONE LANGUAGE BEFORE LEARNING ANOTHER

BRAINS OF MALES AND FEMALES DIFFER IN WAYS THAT DICTATE LEARNING ABILITIES

EACH CHILD HAS A PARTICULAR LEARNING STYLE

You should drink 8 glasses of water every day

Dropping a penny from the Empire State Building would kill someone

Chewing gum will stay in your stomach for 7 years

Cracking your knuckles leads to arthritis

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/5-myths-about-slavery

For nearly a century following the end of Reconstruction, many Americans grew comfortable with a certain fantasy version of the antebellum South, blessed with blushing belles, kindly planters—and happy slaves.

There were Irish slaves in the American colonies

The South seceded from the Union over the issue of states’ rights, not slavery

Only a small percentage of Southerners owned slaves

The Union went to war to end slavery

Black soldiers—slave and free—fought for the Confederacy.

We can't removed memorials to confederate soldiers--that is history.

If remove confederate memorials, we have to removed the other slave owners memorials.

We can't rename schools--those names are important to who we are as a country.

We can't rename mascots--that has always been the mascot, we are honoring the people represented by the mascot.

We love our myths.  They help us live with ourselves when we see injustice, have ethical dilemmas and benefit from keeping things the way they are.

We might not be very nice.

We might like lying to ourselves to keep from having to do the right thing.

I love mythology.  I love stories that tell me something while actually telling me about something much bigger--like Persiphone and Hades for explaining winter, like Isis losing her Osiris.

I do not like myths born of ignorance and self-deception for personal gain.

It is obvious, from the things going on in the world, that the USA is not the only country going through strange times.

I think maybe it is time for us to examine the stories we tell to explain how its ok to treat some people worse than others.
I think maybe it is time for us to start looking in the mirror to see if we are the problem that is growing in the world.
I talk to people, good people, people that seem to have their feces in a contained pile, and realize that most of them are avoiding talking about those things that are wrong.
They aren't alone.
We don't want to get fired.
We don't want to start an argument.
We don't want to ruin our peace or destroy our own zen or rock the boat.

But tell me, who is going to speak truth.
Who is going to stand for those that are powerless.
Who is going to risk losing some of their own creature comforts to ensure that everyone gets a fair shake.
We are not in a new place.
We could be in a new place.
But here we are.
Still.
Again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps

No comments:

Post a Comment

2024 begins

 It's a new year, and like the reality of most new years, it looks remarkably like the previous year. The world has rising fascism, risi...