A recent article in the
Economist reported a move to outlaw the old Dutch tradition of ZwartePiet (Black Peter), a celebration connected with Saint Nicholas
(Santa Claus) and the giving of presents to children. As you would
expect, the move originates from the usual pc people, to describe
whom I have run out of scathing adjectives.
I like this response in
the Letters column of the Economist in the following week:
As attempts are now
being made to purge politically incorrect fantasy figures like Zwarte
Piet, I would like to blow the whistle on another case of
unacceptable exploitation. Each December, a certain chubby children's
figure from the Arctic has the habit of exclusively selecting horned
cervids for the slave labour of pulling his obese posture around the
globe.
As any biologist
knows, only female reindeer and some of their infant sons keep their
antlers in winter. A thorough UN review into gender and age
discrimination seems in order.
Jasper van Soest
Amsterdam
No comments:
Post a Comment