Len Kennedy, Esq.: Prologue: Strength versus Weakness

Prologue:
Strength versus Weakness

by

Len Kennedy, Esq.

[I]t is strength that makes all other values possible. Nothing survives without it. Who knows what delicate wonders have died out of the world for want of the strength to survive?

—Mr. Han, in Enter the Dragon

One would make a fit little boy stare if one asked him: “Would you like to become virtuous?” . . . but he will open his eyes wide if asked: “Would you like to become stronger than your friends?”

—Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power, Section 918

Though the world is rife with cowards, the weak shouldn’t be the ones who dictate what’s best for everyone just because they outnumber the strong.

Too many people, when something offends them, blame the “offensive” thing. They don’t even consider the possibility that if something offends their delicate sensibilities, maybe there’s something wrong with them. They seem to be conflating morality with weakness—but innocence is no more a virtue than is cowardice.

There are, however, some things about which people have every right to be offended.

Personal attacks are offensive because the whole point of a personal attack is to offend.

Racist humor is offensive because, among other things, people don’t choose their race—and most people don’t fit the stereotype of their race.

Sexist humor is offensive because people don’t choose their sex either—and not all people of one gender fit the stereotype of that gender.

Sexual orientation is something else that people don’t choose: I find it hard to believe that homosexuals choose to be attracted to the same sex any more than I choose to be attracted to the opposite sex. It’s simply one of those behavioral characteristics that’s in our DNA. (So don’t let anyone try to tell you you can’t park your purple car in the brown garage.)

I think the only racist, sexist, and homophobic humor that’s truly amusing is that which makes fun of racism, sexism, and homophobia itself—humor that uses stereotypes to mock stereotypes.

Although I like playing around with stereotypes, I know full well that there’s usually only a kernel of truth to any particular stereotype. For example, I realize that the vast majority of Catholic priests are not pedophiles and that (speaking of priests) most homosexuals don’t practice fingerfucking, fisting, and felching (more about that later). I realize you can’t just denigrate an entire group of people by making sweeping generalizations about the whole lot of them—with the obvious exception of the French.

Prologue:Strength versus Weakness

by Len Kennedy, Esq.

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Prologue:
Strength versus Weakness

by

Len Kennedy, Esq.