Women aren’t treated equally. We have to start treating women better. They’re not inferior to men. They can hold their own in the workforce. They should be paid the same. We have to treat women better.

But wait a minute. What about blacks? We have to start treating them equally. Black people are no different than anyone else. We have to stop shooting unarmed black men. We have to stop putting them in jail. We have to treat black people better.

But hold on, what about gay people? We have to start treating them as we treat others. Gay people are not outcasts. Gay people are just as valuable in the workforce. They should have the same access to society as everyone else. We have to treat gays better.

Fine, but we can’t focus on gay people while we’re treating transgender people so poorly. Transgender people are no different than anyone else. We can’t continue to discriminate against transgender people. They’re just as capable in the workforce as anyone else. We have to treat transgenders better.

Enough about transgender people. What about men who love boys? Everyone looks down on pedophiles, but they have their own organization: NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association). They have their own membership cards and everything. They’re just like you and me, and they have a place in society. We have to treat gay pedophiles better.

Or wait. Did I take this too far? Are we not including them in the list of aggrieved victims? Are we all not on board with treating them fairly?

I’m torn, because the original point of this piece was that, you know… if we just treated everyone well, we wouldn’t have to break down individuals into these wide net groups to determine who we haven’t treated well or who we need to treat better.

Perhaps if we all just gave everyone the benefit of the doubt and treated everyone with respect – at least until they give you a reason not to – then we could make the call on a case-by-case basis instead of just empty-headedly treating everyone who looks or acts a certain way as if they’re just the same as everyone else who also looks that way.

That was the original point. But now, I’m a bit confused on who’s determining which groups need our attention and equal treatment and who we’re ignoring or not treating equally. And how are we making these determinations? How are we deciding if a group of people have, well… just taken it too far for even the most enlightened (and amoral) among us?

I guess this is the central point: Let’s just all, in our own little corners of the world, take them as they come and treat everyone we meet with kindness and respect? The fact is, none of us can affect the kind of mass change activists are seeking. But if we all just handle our own business and avoid unnecessarily being an asshole to others, it seems like all of these aggrieved victims could all just stop focusing on their affiliations and get on with earning the respect we’re affording them.

It’s amazing I’ve not heard this suggestion anywhere through all of the media and opinion pieces I read. If some politician picks up on this, they’re going to guarantee their next election.