Read my latest story, "The All-Nighter", at 52|250.

I left the foreign teachers’ Halloween party early tonight, despite enjoying a few minutes of running around outside frightening the students. You see, some of the other teachers got the idea that it would be fun to at least joke about murdering a white chicken as part of a pseudo-voodoo ceremony. They had the poor chicken tied up. Even if they were joking, this was cruel to the chicken and showed a lack of consideration for the vegetarians present (another, who was dressed as an adorable devil left the party as well).

And while this only one incident and only a Halloween party, it connects, I think, to the wider question, of why the brutal continue to reign and why violence remains acceptable while those who abstain from it are considered questionable and of questionable sanity. This is an issue that runs through both the political and personal.

Why is Hillary Clinton considered the front runner in the Democratic primary while the candidate with the strongest record in voting against war, Dennis Kucinich, lags behind? Why is the man who raped me living with his new girlfriend and their baby while I sleep alone in a too-large bed? I am, of course, imperfect, but I’ve never hurt anyone like that. Why is it acceptable for Autism Speaks to laud parents who talk about wishing to murder their autistic children while flapping your arms is considered a sign of disease?

Why do we allow the cruel and the brutal, the warlike, to rule? Why are they allowed to have what they desire? Why do you and I allow it? They could have nothing if we demanded that it be so. All power depends on the consent– if only through apathy– of those ruled, and I don’t understand why people continue to consent to a bloodthirsty order.

<B>EDIT:</B> They did, in fact, kill the chicken, which apparently effectively ended the party, as almost everyone else was outraged.  That bothers me, too, in a way, since it seems a bit hypocritical for happy meat-eaters to be upset about seeing an animal die.  (There is, however, the issue of waste: the chicken was thrown away rather than eaten.)

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