by Elson Trinidad
Michael Bolton sang, "Love is a Wonderful Thing." I disagree. The J. Geils Band sang, "Love Stinks." I couldn't agree more.
Love stinks, surely, but don't get me wrong - I am not preaching hate to the world. There are basically two kinds of love: There is the love associated with peace, respect and goodwill - usually referred to as "Brotherly Love," which is something the world definitely needs more of.
Then there's the other kind of love - romantic love. Which is total crap.
What is love? That question has been answered many times by poets, songwriters and lovers making utter fools of themselves, all of them usually coming up with such cliches as, "Love is a Rose." Blah. Love is a rose, all right. It's got thorns.
If I were to answer that question (which I believe is intended to be merely rhetorical anyways), I would say:
"Love is a luxury, not a necessity. Love is society's dangerous pressure, which ruins those who vainly try to comply with it. Love leeches you of your intelligence, rational abilities, creativity, time and money."
So there.
"Love is a luxury, not a necessity."
Is love _really_ necessary? Does the Constitution mention it? Does one of the Ten Commandments say, "Thou Shalt Fall In Love?" No. Love is simply a luxury. Once can live a happy, healthy, productive life without falling in love. If Plato had fallen in love, for example, he would have never had the time to create his philosophies.
"Love is society's dangerous pressure, which ruins those who vainly try to comply with it."
Turn on the radio. What do you hear? A love song. Watch a movie. What do you see? A love scene. Perhaps, to escape the problem, you can take a walk. Sorry! there are lovers holding hands in the parks, sidewalks and shopping malls of the world. What happens every February? Ugh. We are bombarded with hearts, Cupids, flowers and candies. We feel the pressure of the marketing ploys of Valentine's Day (a so-called "holiday" with a strictly commercial purpose and no historical significance whatsoever, designed to suck your purse or wallet dry on overpriced gimmickry). Pressure indeed. So you have no one to love? Tsk, tsk. Society labels you a "loser" or an "outcast." That's just not fair.
Love is certainly responsible for the problems of the world. Take overpopulation, for instance, Love leads to sex, and sex leads to babies. Too much leads to too much sex and too many babies. Perhaps the world's governments should take that into consideration. Without romantic love, there would be a dramatic decrease in the instances of date rape and spousal abuse. Not to mention a massive decline in AIDS cases.
"Love is something that leeches you of yout intelligence, rational abilities, creativity, time and money."
Love makes you dumb. That is not just opinion, that is fact.
A study performed last fall at Tuebingen Univeristy in Germany dealt with electroencephalogram (EEG) readings of people with low IQs and high IQs. One of their findings revealed that some of the high IQ subjects showed brain- wave patterns of a "clearly reduced complexity," comparable with those in the low IQ group. The researchers questioned them and found out that they were genuinely and passionately in love. And how many times have couples neglected work or their studies just to spend time together? Far too often.
Lovers are very un-creative people. They succumb to dullness and cliches. "I'll love you forever," a man would say to his woman. Bo-ring. What does that mean, "forever?" No one loves forever. People break up. And even if they marry, they get divorced. And even if they stay married, they die. Nothing lasts forever.
I have lost count of all the times I wanted to hang out with a friend, only to hear, "Oh, sorry, I can't. I have to spend all day with my girlfriend." (My mind hears the sound of a whip cracking). And lovers are so intoxicated with each other that, for them, "Time seems to fly by so quickly."
As for money: Hah. Love leaves you bankrupt. There are the necessities of life: food, clothing, bills, perhaps even rent and gas. But love upsets one's financial priorities. Lovers have to spend money on such things as presents, flowers, presents, cologne or perfume, presents, perhaps even birth control and, oh yeah, presents. And I didn't even mention how money disappears when people go out on dates! All of the above leaves one financially weak. It's no wonder that lovers have to end up living together.
Face it, love is not such a wonderful thing now, is it?
Happy Valentine's Day.
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