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By Cass C. Carter Ombudsman cccarter23@gmail.com
Recently, during a discussion over the article I wrote about the inanity of Proposition 8, an individual accused me of being a hypocrite because I didn't want to make it legal for someone to marry anyone and everything they wanted to marry. Despite mentioning that I have no problem with polygamy and that the reason marriage between a person and an inanimate object or animal isn't allowed is because cars and dogs can't sign contracts, he still put forth those same tired arguments.
When he called me a hypocrite, however, I thanked him, because I have claimed hypocrite as a title; it is a badge of honor to be called a hypocrite, as far as I see it, because of the simple fact that it is impossible to be anything but a hypocrite if you stand in opposition to the status quo.
It doesn't matter if you consider our economic system or societal structure to be inherently oppressive, if you don't get a job and make the money needed to buy the food and health care required to survive, you will die. If you hold that opinion and work a 9-to-5, you are a hypocrite, holding an ideal in opposition to your actions! How dare you hope for more, say those who spout "hypocrite" as an epithet!
If you do not believe in the concept of land ownership, you still have no choice but to buy or rent a living space, unless you are prepared to live at odds with the legal system, because there is no land left which is not yet claimed. If you wish to distribute material criticizing the capitalist system, you still have no way to produce or distribute this material without paying money.
If you are against the slaughter of animals, and the living conditions under which some suffer, you can stop buying dairy and meat products, you can avoid buying leather and fur, but you will still find animal products in your film, your DVDs, your computers and all manner of things that you use day to day. And even if you go vegan, the companies that do the slaughtering often also run the farms where your soy and corn are grown, and the money all goes to the same source.
"The system" as we know it, or "the machine" as some label it, is not something external to us as a people; it is a vast entity that includes the button-pressers, the decision-makers, and yes, the recluses and hermits who run from it. It also includes the terrorists and thieves who try to fight it. The values it spews, the culture it manufactures and the memes it generates are all a part of us to such an extent that we can't help but be influenced by it.
Even in the language used to argue against it is encoded the language of domination and submission, of hierarchies and social structure. After a lifetime of thought made word and word made thought flowing through all parts of your mind, it is impossible to conceive of complete human equality-- to do so is to be the fish who sees the water in which he floats.
All this does not mean that resistance is pure vanity. Indeed, if our choices and language are so stunted and fail to reflect our highest aspirations, resistance is more important than ever. It does mean, however, that we must relinquish a calling to some mythological ideal of pure "innocence" of ideology.
Instead of trying desperately with the OCD-like fervor to keep our hands clean until we tear our psyches raw, we should be aware of the unavoidable nature of hypocrisy, and ensure that if we must do something to which there is some negative effect, we will offer enough positive action to more than reverse the damage and provide a net benefit.
Demands that one avoid hypocrisy deny the complexity of the human soul and force us into a simplicity of spirit which does not exist and only hurts us. Asking someone to only pursue some of their desires and ignore others is to demand that he or she remain perpetually unfulfilled. A person who is not afraid to be hypocritical from time to time is in much less danger of "selling out" permanently one day because he or she feels able to taste the "forbidden fruit" without feeling that she needs to make some permanent life decision.
In the end, only blatant hypocrisy will do in a time where one cannot avoid being a part of those things he or she opposes... unless of course, you think everything is perfect as it is.
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