Look at how many societies condemn people based on what they were born.

You were born ____________ (fill in any phenotype)! Condemned.
You were born ____________ (fill in any religion)! Condemned.
You were born ____________ (fill in any sex)! Condemned.
You were born in _________ (fill in any country)! Condemned.
You were born ____________ (fill in any social class)! Condemned.
You were the result of a rape! Condemned.
Your parents weren't married when you were born! Condemned.

This is ridiculous, and it still happens. These are circumstances completely outside your control. Once born, sure, the choices begin and it's all up to you. But how can anyone be persecuted for their parentage, or the particular spot on the planet they entered reality at? We're completely at the mercy of two crazy people having sex before we exist.

One would think this realization is obvious. Hell, we could have quite a pity party, the whole world sitting around in a room, saying things like "Yeah, man, well, _my_ dad was a garbage collector in outer Mongolia, who met my mom--an American diplomat, by the way--at a U2 concert. I got conceived after a night of margaritas in San Diego! You can bet I didn't pick _that_."

Alright, so we don't need an international bitch-fest. But you would _think_ this could be an issue of some sympathy. Nevertheless, the bastard sons and illegitimate daughters of the world take the brunt of the badgering, for something that has nothing to do with choice, and everything to do with blind, stinking luck (perhaps the only real Fate that intercedes in our lives).

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