“Hey there. How do you do? My name is John.”

“Pleased to meet you. I’m Tom.”

“Hi ho, Tommy Boy.”

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I prefer Tom.”

“Whatever you say, Tommy Boy.”

Need we hear much more to identify the asshole here? Fuck political correctness, what the hell do you call a person who won’t bend in the slightest to respect the feelings of another person?

“It’s a free country, pal! This political correctness is killing us. I can call you whatever I want. Ever hear of a little thing called Freedom of Speech? What are you going to do about it?”

“Sure. Ever hear of a little thing called You’re Puss-Filled Leaking Douchebag?”

So yeah. If I can, and it’s no skin off my nose, I’ll make a little extra effort to respect the wishes and feelings of others. That, in and of itself, makes me an utter alien on this planet. By now we all know how much I like to be different.

Thus begins a new meme here in the Abyss. I hope you will like it. I’m calling it: “What if an indigenous peoples’ tribe was like our modern world?”

I know. That’s a l-o-n-g name. And also, why the over-the-top political correctness here?

We all know it’s rude to refer to Native Americans as “Indians.” Hell, thanks to Freshly Pressed, I recently learned that someone from the actual country of India didn’t like the term, either.

I also dismissed the term “Native American” because that had specificity to the United States. I wanted it a little more generic than that. So we’re going to go with “Indigenous Peoples.”

I’m just trying to be respectful and word the question in the right way.

So let’s now try to answer that question: What if an indigenous peoples’ tribe was like our modern world?

—

We came across the tribe and saw something extraordinary. It was rather ordinary except for one man. This man was singled out for opulent riches. He was surrounded by women who fawned over him, fanning him as he relaxed, and occasionally feeding him pieces of fruit. He was adorned with more gold than anyone else in the village. But he wasn’t the Chief. He wasn’t an Elder. As far as we could tell, he wasn’t a leader or special in any obvious way.

We asked one of the people, “What is special about that rich man, there?”

“That’s our forecaster. He is, by far, the best guesser of the future prices of pork bellies. He’s amazingly accurate.”

—

We happened to overhear a conversation between a sick man and the village healer. The healer spoke.

“I see you have no health insurance. However, I will save your life. In return, you must promise to to bring to me everything you kill, gather or make for the next year.”

—

After several weeks of observation, we noticed one young man. He did not hunt. He did not gather. He did not make things. He apparently did absolutely nothing of value to the tribe.

And yet this man was highly respected by the men. And women wanted to have sex with him.

He did not work and people brought him all the food he could eat. They made clothes and things for him. They maintained his home. Everyone sacrificed so the man could prosper.

Then a day came where all the people of the village assembled. Some of the men went to the field while others watched. The popular young man was among them.

They began to play a game while the reminder of the tribe watched.

It turns out that the young man was the very best at hitting a little ball with a stick.

—

Can you think of any others?