Navigating Solutions and Darkness

The threat of further violence - the threat of death as a punishment - is very clearly an effective deterrent when it comes to women reporting rape as a crime in India.

Photo by  Nandhu Kumar  on  Unsplash Saw a goat in the middle of MG Road as I was crossing it. It was a dirty white, casually resting on its hind legs, eating leaves off the vegetation grown on the divider. I saw it and thought to myself, "Somebody's goat is about to become mutton." And the goat heard me, and spoke in its turn. "Why do you assume that every goat must be somebody else's property, human, or end up as their dinner? And while we're at it, if I got myself to the middle of the road, then I have as much chance of getting off it unharmed as you yourself." I marveled at the goat's wisdom. "Well said, goat," I praised it. "Well said indeed." And as befit a creature of its stature, the goat paid me no further heed, but continued goatfully to appropriate the municipality's efforts at beautification to be its own dinner. 

Photo by  Holly Stratton  on  Unsplash Much has been written about "hook-up culture." Not as much has been written about the various obligations one carries into hook-up culture. The most important of those obligations is that you need to earn the right to be there.  Simply because hook ups do not, as a rule, carry as much emotional obligation as a relationship would doesn't mean you get an all-access pass to the Land of Trivialization. If anything, the lower level of social legitimacy afforded to hook-ups gives you a greater burden to ensure that your actions do not hurt anybody that decides to be optimistic enough to begin such an uncertain type of relationship with you.  If you're in the market for a hook up, then you have no right to disrespect the people you will meet as a result of your efforts. You have no right to look at them as though they are lesser than individuals who go in for the standard relationship. If you have such hang ups, ki...