The Upside of Genocide
Sentence of Dave does not endorse the act of genocide (although Dave occasionally endorses arachnicide, particularly in the film Starship Troopers) but that doesn't mean that the aftermath of a murderous apocalypse can't have some benefits; in Rwanda, after Hutu extremists slaughtered more than a million people (mainly Tutsis) in 100 days, there weren't many men to be found-- the population was now skewed to 70% women, and so while a typical feminist movement takes time, and goes from Rosie the Riveter to Gloria Steinem to Hillary Clinton, in Rwanda, things moved at a breakneck pace and women's participation in the legislature is mandated; the result is that Rwanda is the only country in the world where more women than men serve as elected officials . . . and this doesn't make everything perfect for women, while they've moved into many typically male professions, they still suffer discrimination at home-- but this may be a last ditch effort for men to preserve traditions that are on the way out (e.g. Donald Trump) and once women enjoy a few generations of economic success and political clout, even those rather sexist Rwandan norms will erode; for more on this topic (and theme) and a compelling story about an all girl Rwandan debate team, listen to Invisibilia: Outside In.
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4 comments:
Those are bugs in Starship Troopers, not spiders. And a grammatical agreement error in your first sentence gives the appearance that maybe you did it on purpose because you actually do endorse genocide.
I do appreciate looking for any glimmer of a silver lining in something like the slaughter of a million people. Hard to do.
the decision between insecticide and arachnicide was a tough one-- here's the description of the creatures from wikipedia: "interstellar war between mankind and an insectoid species known as "Arachnids"."
i went with arachnicide because it was more unusual and fit their name, and bc they have spider faces . . .
It's a taxonomological quandary. Most of the creatures at issue have an exoskeleton and four legs so they aren't insects or arachnids, they're just some oddball arthropods. The tanker bugs (which aren't really bugs because, at a minimum, they have a shell that completely covers the back of their abdomens) have four big legs and then another eight smaller legs, so they too are oddball arthropods. The queen bug appears to have no exoskeleton and thus isn't a bug or even an insect, unless the queen is in some larval stage which doesn't make sense given that it's a mature animal laying eggs.
I'm sure this all gives Prof. Fashing fits.
i think the main thing is that i don't endorse genocide.
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