<p>I was running late with my evening chores the other day and remembered after dark that I forgot to take the trashcan out to the road. We live on 5 acres out in the country, so our driveway is pretty long. I picked up my toddler and held him on my hip with one arm, grabbed the heavy trashcan with my free hand, and headed into the winter night.</p>
<p>It was cold and dark. I stumbled a couple of times on uneven ground. By the time I made it to the paved road, my arms, legs, and lungs hurt. My one-year-old son peered into the darkness and pressed his little body against mine for security. I was cold and my muscles hurt, but in a few minutes, I would be sitting on the couch in my warm house.</p>
<p>My few minutes of minor discomfort reminded me of how fortunate I am. Like most modern Americans, I have not experienced true hardship. We live in an era of ample welfare programs that provide medical care, food, subsidized housing and childcare to those in need. Almost all of us have flush toilets in our houses. We have access to clean drinking water, antibiotics, fresh vegetables in all seasons, and a wide variety of safe contraceptives. We can walk down the sidewalk without constant fear of rape.</p>
<p>Our relatively easy life is a blessing, but it has caused citizens to invent complaints. In the absence of the struggle to survive and the abundance of food, clothing, and shelter, they decided that being asked to clearly state for the record whether they are male or female is a crime against their person. They claim they are attempting to achieve self actualization, but they don’t even know which one their selves are.</p>
<p>And if they do select a gender (or non-gender, because that is now an option in many states), they reserve the right to switch teams at any time in the future. Then they can get a haircut and switch back. Or not – lingering in the middle as “undecided” is okay, too. Several American states have joined Nepal, Pakistan, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Germany as legally recognizing people who identify as nonbinary or “third gender” on their state-issued identification cards.</p>
<p>This constitutes an identity crisis of unprecedented magnitude. If people can’t even accept which gender they are – a decision that is made long before they are born and visibly apparent at birth – how can they make major life decisions such as what career to pursue and where to live? If they are wishy-washy about which restroom to use to wash their hands, how are they going to lead a team of employees, start a business, or commit to a mortgage, marriage, or long-term job?</p>
<p>They would be better off if their biggest concern wasn’t the imagined social injustice of marking “F” or “M” on the intake form at their doctor’s office. In a sign of overall national prosperity, we have officially run out of things to complain about. It should be a blessing, but society pays the price with increased immorality with the rise of “Gender X.”</p>