Abortion
Melania Trump wrote a book in support of abortion? I'm sure it will be best.
I don’t know how stupid the Trumps think the rest of us are—but I’d like to think we’re smart enough to know that all the flipflopping on abortion has nothing to do with ideology or ethics. Even semi-literates can read polls, so my guess is that Donald and Melania realize they’re on the wrong side of the American zeitgeist when it comes to abortion. Of course, they would have to google “zeitgeist” to know what I mean.
The truth is they’re panicking. Melania’s strangely timed book release is strong evidence of this. (Side note: As a semi-journalist, I thought about requesting an advance copy of Melania’s book, but I heard she wrote it with a red crayon, and I prefer blue.)
Abortion—the word makes a lot of us cringe. During election season, Americans can always count on it to be a divisive issue. My thoughts on the topic are well represented by the late and great George Carlin. Quotable line (among many): “People say life begins at conception; I say life began about a billion years ago, and it’s a continuous process.” The genius of Carlin that often gets missed is that he went beyond merely attacking institutions (religion, media, etc.) and leaders he didn’t like by challenging the premises they force on us like an unwanted pregnancy. You can’t win a debate if your opponent gets to dictate the terms.
This is not to say that individual lives don’t matter—of course they do (especially mine)—but I call bullshit on the premise that anti-abortion people (antis) care about the sanctity of life. This is where labels (terms of debate) become a shortcut to victory: “Pro-life” Is a misnomer. I would even call it a deliberate lie—in the same way that it’s a lie to suggest that Melania could write a coherent book herself. (Donald has not and cannot.) Michelle Obama (and her husband) on the other hand…
Yet, I have to give credit to antis for one small thing: It must be nice to reduce the universe of political issues to the tiny little dot that is abortion and simply vote for the candidate most likely to oppose it (or support it, for that matter). This keeps the cognitive dissonance part to a minimum. But even a modicum of critical thinking should lead you to the notion that EVERY dot (policies—in case you’ve lost the metaphor) serves or obstructs the continuous process that is human life: Housing, healthcare, education, employment, transportation, etc.
To use a basic example combining all of these: It doesn’t matter if I have a good job if I can’t get to the office due to a lack of transportation—and let’s say that even if I could get access to a car, subway, etc., I can’t perform up to par at said job because I lack the education and/or suffer from chronic illness and can’t get access to doctors or medications. And maybe the reason I’m chronically ill is because there’s a shit-ton of mold in my apartment, and the landlord is a scumbag who refuses to eradicate it. And maybe that landlord got elected POTUS, so there’s no chance at recourse.
I believe that life is only as valuable as how you (are able to) live.
To put it another way, the starfish story—a parable of virtue for the sake of it—only makes sense if the passerby throws the suffocating creatures back into the ocean, where they have a chance to live and potentially thrive. If the passerby instead throws them into a pit of sulfuric acid, no sane person will claim he’s doing a good thing regardless of intentions. If only the hardcore antis cared about our quality of existence and not just our right to a miserable one…
I’ve neglected to address the racist element—the “great replacement theory”—and its sinister implications. Some folks of color I have spoken to are convinced that this slow-rolling anti-abortion coup, which picked up steam under Trump with the abolition of Roe v. Wade, is really about increasing the number of White babies to maintain a demographic advantage. I will go into this in more detail in another rant. It’s important—but far too much to cover on a Monday morning (without coffee).
For now, I leave you with the words of a great (non-)thinker, (now) writer, and (former) nude model: “Be best.”
