Ending the War on Women

To create a sustainable world it's essential that women have 100 percent parity with men. Religion or culture is NEVER an excuse to subjugate women.

The Abrahamic religions are obsessed with women control. Ever since I was a youngster I thought it was unfair that women had all these dress rules, and men had far fewer. Women are required to wear burkas, or can only wear dresses, etc... The rationale, I guess, is that these dress rules make God happy and help horny men to control themselves (yeah, right).

In the Bible, Mary Magdalene played a prominent role in Jesus's ministry. But fast forward in the New Testament and you find the misogynist Paul turning women into second class citizens. By golly, Paul wanted those women quiet and submissive, and this attitude is still permeated into our culture today.

Equal Rights Amendment

When I was 13 the ERA debate was in full swing. Congress had finally passed it and it was time for the states to ratify it. Thirty-eight states must ratify it to become a constitutional amendment. Finally, Illinois, the 37th state, approved it last May. This has always blown my mind because all the amendment says is: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."

There I was, an idealistic 8th grader, sitting in class one day during a discussion on the ERA. I remember Chuck, who sat on the front row and was not going to have it. Since Chuck threatened to turn me into a pretzel a few times, I wasn't going to challenge him. But in the back of my mind I thought, "There is absolutely no reason why women shouldn't have 100% equality with men."

Years later I put this belief into action by volunteering for Planned Parenthood. One evening as I was leaving an event, a staff member said to me, "It's wonderful that you are doing this for your daughters." What? That thought had never occurred to me. I simply work for women's rights because it's the right thing to do. Patriarchy disgusts me.

Evolutionary History

Now, before we come down too hard on patriarchy, let's look at our human history. At one time the system might have been necessary to ensure that women focused on child birthing and rearing. In those days, it was quite a feat to get a baby to reproduction age, especially for boys who were regularly slaughtered in wars.

But patriarchy has outlived its usefulness, and our human population is now exploding. In fact, humanity has more than doubled in my lifetime. Yet, male domination is still perpetuated through ancient religions and obsolete cultural memes.

Sustainability & Equality

I find that the best indicator for determining the sustainability and maturity level of a country is by the percentage of women in a nation's parliament. If you look at the graphic below, Western Europe, Scandinavia, southern Africa, and much of Latin America are doing great. Other nations are lagging either because of backward religions or the culture of "machoism."

We like to think that the United States is an advanced nation, but we really are a backwards place, mainly because of conservative religion. Our percentage of women in the House of Representatives is only 19.4%, which is a reflection of our still-sexist culture. A more unpleasant indicator are all the sexual harassment cases that continually make the news. The U.S. still has a ways to go in respecting women and treating them as true equals.

If you are a father with daughters, you should make it clear to them that they can become a president, astronaut, or anything they want. If you promote submissiveness and second class citizenship to your daughter, then you are a weenie.

In regards to marriage, a marriage is a partnership and team. Both the man and woman should have equal say in any decision. If a husband thinks he's in charge because "he's the man of the house," don't put up with that crap. It's pure mythology.

Back in my church going days I attended one church that had women on its leadership team, and no one thought twice about it. At the last church where I was a member, it was men only. I found this insulting and it's part of the reason why I left. Many conservative churches still do not allow women in a senior leadership position, which I find pathetic. If you are a woman and feel uncomfortable with this, LEAVE that church.

Conclusion

I believe that the population explosion is the greatest threat to our planet. But, remarkably, the tools to solve this problem have been built into us all along. All we need to do is treat women as 100% equals. Some women will still want to have children, while others will pursue their dreams to become a doctor, lawyer, or small business owner. The result will be a lower birthrate. The second thing that's essential for a sustainable plant is universal access to birth control. Every woman should have the ability to control the timing and number of their births, or even the decision to have no kids.

Education and equal opportunities must be made available to every girl in the world. Patriarchy, misogyny, chauvinism, and sexism all show the insecurity and inadequacy of men. Get it together guys, and grow up!

 In the end, I'd like to see every nation in the chart above as "dark green," which means that a nation's parliament is at least 50% female. This is a sign of a healthy country and the positive message that it sends will trickle into all aspects of society. In the end, we will have a more balanced world where every girl has just as much value and respect as any boy.

Map Credit: Inter-Parliamentary Union

Photo: Seth Doyle

Democracy is Worth Saving

Humans are hierarchal animals by nature. For thousands of years we survived under the leadership of clan leaders and chiefs. Only 2,500 years ago, in Athens, Greece, was true democracy born. So, we have a few hundred thousand years under tribal leadership against 25 centuries of democratic ideals. Democracy is not a natural institution and we must turn to our higher selves to make it work.

The beauty of democracy is that it's the only way we can be truly free. We elect representatives who rule our country by voting. If we don't like a law we can elect lawmakers to change it. Democracy is not based on human nature but rather an idea and a value. We are intelligent animals who want to control our destiny, so, thus, we chose self rule.

To make Democracy work people must believe in it, people must be engaged in politics, and most importantly, the citizens must vote.

Challenges

Democracy is fragile and is continually challenged by Murphy's Law — anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Here are just a few ways our American democracy is compromised every day:

• Citizens United — The Supreme Court basically said corporations are people and are allowed to contribute to political campaigns.
• Gerrymandering — The dominant political party in a state redraws districts to give them a political advantage. 
• Foreign Intervention — Meddling in the politics of another country to promote politicians who favor the foreign nation.
• Corruption — Ballot stuffing, vote buying, computer hacking, etc.
• Political Engineering — Closing voting precincts early in minority districts, etc.
• Control of the Press — Using or restricting the media to influence elections.

Trumpism

In 2016 we saw a new way of harming democracy. The idea is to say or do anything to get elected, simply for the sake of getting elected. When we see the daily demented ramblings of Donald Trump we must remind ourselves that his election was a protest vote from within the Republican Party. And his election to president was not a result of Russian meddling, but rather desperate people in Pennsylvania and Ohio who saw their good jobs go, and were hopeful that a wildcard candidate could bring a positive change. Like so many other people, I lost my good job in my mid-50s, so I can relate.

Keep It Alive

Democracy is an extremely beautiful ideal that must be protected, loved, savored, and kept alive. For without it we become hierarchal ants who are subject to the whims of a monarch or dictator. It's essential that we VOTE in every election, get involved in political races, and donate to good candidates. NEVER become disgruntled and say "my vote won't matter" because when you do you are killing humanity's most extraordinary ideal.

Nothing irks me more when people say "we shouldn't discuss religion or politics." My god! Now is the most important time ever to discuss these topics. What we really need is a return to civility and the maturity to listen to an opposing viewpoint without getting irrational and overly emotional.

Summary

Somehow, democracy manages to survive all the many attacks. Right now we have a president that is pushing our democracy to the edge. Sadly, various Democracy Index reports show that democracy is on the decline around the world. It's critical for us to reverse this trend. For democracy to work citizens must have some education and critical thinking skills. 

A friend once told me the world would be better off with enlightened dictators. This is furthest from the truth because there are a hundred ways to define "enlightened." During my teen years I wrote a novel about a group of countries that took over the world to fix everything that was broken. In this society all lawmaking was done by a central computer called Computo. All variables were entered into the machine and it made the decisions, which became law. This is a novel I wrote from 1973-1978 as a teenager. What a crazy weird kid I was, and now, 40 years later I realize I haven't changed one bit.

Photo: Aaron Burden