A fellow the other night made this observation that makes sense of much. He said the most dangerous thing on the planet right now is not climate change or financial recession. It is the millions of disenchanted young males a gender-posturing society is cranking out by the millions.
Young males are increasingly ostracised for expressing toxic masculinity and being pushed to the outer fringes of a society that reviles them for their maleness, pushing them straight into the loving arms of violent extremism. I believe the old adage still applies - Idle hands are the devils’ tools. One wonders what Ukraine would look like right now but for a healthy dose of toxic masculinity!
Speaking of which, tens of thousands of young Russian males of conscription age are fleeing Russia to avoid being drafted into the army. Oddly they seem reluctant to become cannon fodder, being inexperienced conscripts going up against battle-hardened Ukrainian troops possessing all the lethal toys western nations can provide them.
So, where have we seen this before? Does anyone remember the Vietnam war? Thousands of American draft dodgers crossed the border into Canada in the 60s and 70s, many settling here and never returning.
Or Hogans Heroes, the highly popular but improbable comedy series of American POWs in WW2. Who could forget Werner Klemperer’s constant threat to his increasingly recalcitrant guards of being shipped off to the Russian front if they did not shape up?
Now in Russia, the Ukrainian front lines carry the same threat. Armed with a rifle, fear, and a long cold winter just around the next bend.
And now for something totally different.
I have decided, and after much deliberation*1, I assure you, to join the silliness rather than rail against it. As of today*2, I am renouncing all forms of sexual identity*3, and in the future, I wish to identify as Moose!*4 A noble and very tasty beast!
I plan on ingesting monumental amounts of bone growth hormone in an effort to grow antlers*5 so that I may join my brethren and fight them for dominance in the forest.
The ramblings of a madman you say? In a world where litter boxes are a common sight in classrooms*6, and people identify with unicorns*7, a mythical multicoloured beast from a children’s fairy tale, I think not!
-Pete foster
Editors notes:
*1 - Peter may have meant to type flagellation. I couldn’t confirm this before going to print.
*2 - This was submitted on October 13th, so presumably, Peter has been a Moose for the better part of 11 days now.
*3- I would guess that previously his identity was that of a Grumpy Old Man. A Walter Mattheau type, if you will. Who, himself, resembled a Moose, so maybe it’s not such a stretch after all.
*4 - It’s an identity, not an enhancement pill from a spam email.
*5 - You’ll ruin your tinfoil hat.
*6 - This has been proven to be an urban myth.
*7 - despite, I’m assuming, accident and no effort, Peter technically got this right. His tone implied he thought people identify AS a Unicorn, but he managed to type WITH instead, which is correct. People identify with the rare and unique creature in terms of fitting into other peoples existing relationships.
Submit your letter to the editor to: editor@lmtime.ca