Shrug out of Your Chains

It's shocking, somewhat funny, and extremely sad how some people's beliefs can be so screwed up.

I've been looking for ideas on what to blog about, (while doing a little reading, gaming, and celebrating my birthday), and today there was a moment that felt like a giant slap in the face.

I can't fathom how another person could believe they have a right to my life, or any part of it. What's mine is mine. What I've earned, I've earned. I'm not so sure it was how I was raised, but it's always been a core tenet of my belief. I've never demanded something of someone simply for my own benefit. But nor will I bow to another who demands it of me.

The very idea that I, being superior to you in some way, shape or form, automatically makes me inferior...I can't understand it. Yet I see it everyday. You need my strength to carry or lift something. I, whose life has given me these muscles, who has exercised and taken care of this body to bring it to the shape it is in now. You need me to accomplish something, yet you come in here demanding I do what you want when you want it, and for absolutely nothing at all. I gain nothing, but must give you my strength? By seeking me to do the job for you, you admit I'm superior to you in this area, yet you throw demands at me like I have to listen to you?

And not only that, but my mind too. My life of reading, searching for answers, researching, thinking, philosophizing, has made me more intelligent than most people. You're aware of this, and you insist I fix your problem for you. Just who do you think you are, shouting orders?

Since when did the weak carry the chains holding collars that bind the  strong? Since when did the fools control the wise?

On the same note, what sense does it make even 'asking' for my aid, when you're infuriated that I declined? If it is a request, a question, then there must be more than one choice. To have only one option, it becomes an order. And as previously stated, you do not order me.

I never liked the idea in elementary school, that everyone has to say "please" whenever they want something, like it's some magic word. They even call it the magic word. I must give up that which I've strived for, that which I've earned, or simply that which I have in my hand, because you said 'please'? But wait, when I do the same, you refuse, and that's okay? I think not. There is no reason in this, it is slavery.

Sure, children should learn manners, to not simply take whatever they can get their hands on. But this "please" business is just a subversion of the very thing you try to avoid. It even holds on into adulthood. You are shocked that your magic word has no effect on me? That I refuse to bow to someone just because they demand it, or hide their demands under a sheathe of courtesy? That I believe a man should be rewarded for helping another, rather than be bonded in slavery?

Wake up. Shrug out of your chains. Live.