5.7.25 - A Nude Conversation on the Theory of Justice
This evening, an old italian man with a Tony Soprana vibe looked at me in the sauna carefully and asked, "you study philosophy?"
I stammered "I-uh, yeah a little in colleg-"
"You should Read John Rawls. Theory of Justice."
"oh, yeah sur-"
"I'll give it to you in a nutshell. Imagine you were born in a box, right? And you didn't know what gender, what race, what sexuality you were"
"right."
"what kind of world would you build?"
"huh. yeah thats an interesting idea."
Socrates gestures towards a young black man, sweating buckets. "You, why do you think your hair is like that?"
The young man responds "ahhh I mean, ancestors, I guess––"
"Ancestors, right! You know the only two animals in the world who sunburn?"
A long, hot, silence. I couldn't think of anything but humans.
"I'll give you a hint, its the only animal you can get an organ transplant from."
It comes to me. "a pig"
"A pig! Humans and pigs, only animals to get sunburned. And pigs, they're dirty right? Why?"
The young man responds "they roll around in mud?"
I interject, "well, I mean, I think some of pigs' dirtiness is overstated, a lot of that has to do with farms, in nature––"
Tony Soprano responds "in nature they roll around in mud, you know why?"
A shorter, hotter silence.
"its sunscreen! and you, why do you think your skin is like that, and why do you think someone in Finland is so pale?"
I mean I have a very clear answer but I wait for his answer, more curious where this is going than anything.
"mutations, the UV rays--your body doesn't want you to get sick, your ancestors, they grow up where theres sun, it doesn't want you to get cancer, to get melanoma. So it adapts. Same with the white man in Danmark with the long hair and the sunken eyes. Race, its all nonsense. An idea invented, by very small minded people."
I understand what Tony Socrates is saying, but there are about a million qualifications I could add. In my short life, I have learned not to. "No, for sure. You're right." The young man also agrees with Tony. The staff begins to approach to close the sauna, I turn to the wall to wrap my thin towel around me and start to head out.
Socrates reminds me, "John Rawls, Theory of Justice, be sure to check it out, it's a good read."
"Thank you, I will."
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