Of course, by the time I sat down to write the article, I had to discover a problem with my philosophy. I'll start at the beginning. It started when I was visiting a new friend one day and found my self expounding at length to a girl of twelve how all men are scum. She tried to object on the behalf of her father, which I allowed, and her uncles, which I said she would have to check with her parents on. I told her that I was scum, too, so I wasn't just trying to insinuate myself into her confidence.
All men are scum, each and every one.
She was quite willing to believe that her brother fell into that category, and quite disappointed when I told her that he was an exception. I told her that it was much better to assume that any given man is scum and later find out that he is not than to assume that he is not scum and later find out that he is. Of course, I'm not sure she understood exactly that deeper meaning that I was driving at, but I tried. She finds me very amusing, I assure you. Camille Paglia has said that we are all raging animals beneath a thin veneer of civilization, or something like that.