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Name: Vincent Wong
Alias: Runearay
Age: 18

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Friday, September 09, 2005
|10:34 PM|


Chivalry and Consideration

First and foremost, when the word "Chivalry" comes to your mind, what do you think of? Do you think of a Knight in shining armor, gracefully slipping off his surcoat and laying it on the mud to let a Lady pass without stepping on the mud? Or perhaps you think of the self-same Knight, wielding his blades against foes that outnumber him twenty to one, just to save one poor, starving child from the gallows? More reality bound, perhaps you think of a woman who gracefully lets up her seat for an older gentlemen in a crowded bus? Or maybe, you think of the elderly man refusing to take the seat of the young woman, simply because she is pregnant? Maybe what comes to your mind is your best friend, offering with a smile, to send you home because night has already fallen, and you have to walk? Or maybe, for the egotistical, you think of yourself, protecting your "friends" from unseen dangers of pickpockets and phantom cars, yelling once every two minutes, "look out for cars!"

Well, do you know what comes to my mind when I think of Chivalry? The image that comes into my mind is enough to break any decent person and reduce him to blubbering filth. I see a world without humans, without people, without life. I see a world desolate, I see a world empty and senseless, I see a world laid to waste. Why? This is simply the symbolism, in my mind, of the extinction of Chivalry in this world. Just as there is no life in the world of Chivalry I see, there is no Chivalry in the world I live. Why, you're not crying? You're not on your knees? There, that simply proves my point. There is not a single soul in this planet that would weep to know the truth.

No! You vehemently protest. No! There is still Chivalry in this world. There are still people who would give up their seats, their pride, their comfort, for the sake of others.

I can only say you live still in the blind world of your mother's womb. You are mistaking consideration for Chivalry. A mistake that is, in this world, fatal. Chivalry and consideration are two wholly seperate, wholly different concepts, both with nothing to do with each other. Yet, at the same time, both concepts merge and overlap. How can something be different and yet overlap? Well, how can the truth be lies, how can love be hate, and how can infatuation be lust?

Get real.

If you think Chivalry still exists, think again. What do you define as Chivalry? What is Chivalry? Is it simply a matter of giving up something, for the sake of others? Well, in a way, it is. But its not so simple. Where consideration is a concept easily grasped and understood, and performed, Chivalry is far more complex and difficult to execute. For consideration, all you need to do is to judge your own comforts, and judge what you can give up for someone else. Then give it all up.

Example? Well, for one, giving up a seat on the crowded bus for an older man. That's consideration. You see yourself sitting on a seat, and you see an elderly, and you give up your seat for him. Simple.

Chivalry? Not so simple. What if you're a young, pregnant woman. An elderly stands beside you in the crowded bus. Do you give up your seat? If you do, you're sacrificing your own comfort for his. What if you don't give up your seat? You're still sacrificing comfort. You're sacrificing the old man's comfort for your own. If you're a robust young man, then that would be outrageous. But you're a pregnant young woman. Can you say whether or not giving up the seat is the 'right' thing to do? Is your need to the seat any less than the elderly's? Is the elderly's claim to the seat any less than yours? How will you decide?

Giving up your seat is consideration. Not giving it up is being inconsiderate. However, is that being Chivalrous? Is giving up your seat Chivalrous? Is not giving it up Chivalrous? How can you judge other people, when you yourself is as flawed as he? If you cannot judge, then how can you say who deserves the seat more than the other?

Personally, I term being "Chivalrous" as "giving up something for the greater good." The only problem is that I don't believe in anything called the "greater good". If I don't believe in it, how can I do anything for it? Chivalry does not exist for me. Does it exist for you? Does it exist for someone else? Will your Chivalry clash with his? Do you believe in Chivalry?

How would you react, if you were trapped in a building about to burn down? Search for an exit, right? What would you do if there was an elderly beside you, and only time for one person to jump away before the building falls on you? Would you give up your life for the old man? Would you give up the old man's life for yours? What if, in the future, the old man would save three children from another fire if he survived, and you would only become a drunkard and a danger to the society? Would you still give up your life? Or would you still sacrifice the old man? Which would you choose?

Now that you've chosen, can you tell me which is the truly Chivalrous way?

How can anyone be Chivalrous, if they cannot see the future, if the consequences of their actions are unknown to them? What if you give up your seat for an old man, and the next instant, a flying truck crashes into the bus and kills the man in his seat while you, because you gave up your seat, survive because you were not that near the seat? What if you did not give up your seat for a pregnant woman, and caused her to miscarriage? What if you did give up your seat, and the woman's child grows up to become a serial killer?

Man has long since lost his ability to judge right from wrong. Man has never had the ability, actually.

What is Chivalry?

Does Chivalry exist?

My answer to you: Chivalry does not exist. Chivalry is an Ideal, like "love", like "truth". Chivalry is a child's daydream.


Looking to the future~
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