It's never wise to throw the baby with the bath water, even if you didn't understand the figurative meaning of the idiom but just the literal. It fits in with a lot of events, especially of late - statues being taken down, cancel culture, objectionable history trying to be changed/addressed.
The phrase literally originates when, in days long ago with non-existent plumbing like today, water had to be brought with difficulty and used for the entire family to bathe, before being thrown out. The last one in was the baby, being smaller and easier to forget about. Hence, the phrase. The figurative meaning is that we should not end up throwing out the attached or easy-to-miss good while throwing out the bad.
This origin and meaning has massive likening to us today, as we are i.e. we are the last ones (yet) in a long line of whatever culture and values we hold. We're way younger than our ancestors when they championed it. Now, while we celebrate it, we could still have a lot of that dark, dirty water left from that process. We are literally the baby in the bath water. And the idiom asks to keep us alive. The only question is if it's possible at all to only throw out the dirty bathwater, given our identity in, and clear attachment to it.
A few questions still remain. Do we all have the privilege of having some water left to waddle in, however murky? Do all of us have the privilege of pride and dignity that would allow us to bathe at all, figuratively? Clearly, no.
In a previous article, I argue that there always only two kinds of people - those with power and those without. Those with power, somewhere along the line, gained their reputation by taking from those without power today, stealing their right to an wholesome identity so they (the powerful) can have the one they want. Anyone with power, even down all those years, is using stolen property for their benefit that's been way due to be returned.
When you talk of cancel culture, slaver statues being brought down, and history being attempted to be removed, we are talking about the fact that the bathwater we don't need comes attached with the baby. In this case, you literally cannot throw the baby out with the bath water. It's impossible because they are too attached.
I also argue that when people seize power over someone else/other people, that power becomes them and the only way to keep the baby is to keep the water. If we can't, anything else we do is futile. This time, let's call the bathwater a trail of blood, figuratively and literally (if it's the case).
Since we can't, we'd have to do the next best thing - humble the powerful, because they aren't going to humble themselves, give up their power and start bringing about equality. Their power may be all they have as an identity, and they've never faced or gotten used to people standing up to them. They've had it handed to them on a silver platter and innocently believe that everyone should earn their piece rightfully or, equally, be lucky to inherit it.
What we would not be trying to do is take away all they got. They can keep that. We're just gonna make sure that we cut off exclusive supply and make access to it equal. Those who want these stolen privileges can have them along with everyone else. No more profiling with bias - by police, during job interviews, with prospective tenants or or any other situation. Data on disprivilege and steps to help those individuals and communities get on an equal footing. No charity, just due. Just unlocking all those closed doors that the powerful chose to lock up and occupy inside.
But they're not going to give in easily. Even if the battle's legitimate, they're going to go berserk in rage and sound loopy, but they'll hold onto and flaunt that power and privilege for dear life, sometimes with extremely politically right honesty (the irony!). It's war, if it comes to that. The bathwater must go. The baby must stay.
The phrase literally originates when, in days long ago with non-existent plumbing like today, water had to be brought with difficulty and used for the entire family to bathe, before being thrown out. The last one in was the baby, being smaller and easier to forget about. Hence, the phrase. The figurative meaning is that we should not end up throwing out the attached or easy-to-miss good while throwing out the bad.
This origin and meaning has massive likening to us today, as we are i.e. we are the last ones (yet) in a long line of whatever culture and values we hold. We're way younger than our ancestors when they championed it. Now, while we celebrate it, we could still have a lot of that dark, dirty water left from that process. We are literally the baby in the bath water. And the idiom asks to keep us alive. The only question is if it's possible at all to only throw out the dirty bathwater, given our identity in, and clear attachment to it.
A few questions still remain. Do we all have the privilege of having some water left to waddle in, however murky? Do all of us have the privilege of pride and dignity that would allow us to bathe at all, figuratively? Clearly, no.
In a previous article, I argue that there always only two kinds of people - those with power and those without. Those with power, somewhere along the line, gained their reputation by taking from those without power today, stealing their right to an wholesome identity so they (the powerful) can have the one they want. Anyone with power, even down all those years, is using stolen property for their benefit that's been way due to be returned.
When you talk of cancel culture, slaver statues being brought down, and history being attempted to be removed, we are talking about the fact that the bathwater we don't need comes attached with the baby. In this case, you literally cannot throw the baby out with the bath water. It's impossible because they are too attached.
I also argue that when people seize power over someone else/other people, that power becomes them and the only way to keep the baby is to keep the water. If we can't, anything else we do is futile. This time, let's call the bathwater a trail of blood, figuratively and literally (if it's the case).
Since we can't, we'd have to do the next best thing - humble the powerful, because they aren't going to humble themselves, give up their power and start bringing about equality. Their power may be all they have as an identity, and they've never faced or gotten used to people standing up to them. They've had it handed to them on a silver platter and innocently believe that everyone should earn their piece rightfully or, equally, be lucky to inherit it.
What we would not be trying to do is take away all they got. They can keep that. We're just gonna make sure that we cut off exclusive supply and make access to it equal. Those who want these stolen privileges can have them along with everyone else. No more profiling with bias - by police, during job interviews, with prospective tenants or or any other situation. Data on disprivilege and steps to help those individuals and communities get on an equal footing. No charity, just due. Just unlocking all those closed doors that the powerful chose to lock up and occupy inside.
But they're not going to give in easily. Even if the battle's legitimate, they're going to go berserk in rage and sound loopy, but they'll hold onto and flaunt that power and privilege for dear life, sometimes with extremely politically right honesty (the irony!). It's war, if it comes to that. The bathwater must go. The baby must stay.
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