Getting the Word Out

For a man who couldn’t speak, Dorian had a lot to say. He’d become adept at writing quickly with whatever was available, at using sign language with those who knew it, at doing anything in his power to communicate without needing to speak. He had ideas about this whole mutant rights movement, too. Unusual ideas, truths often gone unspoken outside the blogosphere, where Dorian was so active, and where he had a small, but loyal following.

The riots gave Dorian inspiration. Maybe now, his words would resonate with a broader audience. So he prepared a pamphlet with some of the most important aspects of his ideology. They were a hit on the blogosphere, and with the fringe mutant rights groups in NYC. He had masses of them printed, and worked with the activist groups in town to distribute them. Soon, it was hard to walk ten feet without bumping into another one of Dorian’s pamphlets in the Sanctuary or at any university.

A few stacks also appeared one day in Xavier’s Sister School. The person responsible tried to keep their identity a secret, but almost everyone knew it was Kaitlyn, no matter how often she denied it.

The first wave of pamphlets had messages like this:

Mutants are an advanced form of human life.

Why, then, you might ask, are so many of us poor and destitute? Why, then, do visibly mutated and ‘outed’ mutants have the highest unemployment rate of any minority in America today? Why, then, can we find virtually no such mutants in leadership positions in our government, and so few in the business world? Why, then, have mutants found themselves registered and thrown in concentration camps so many different times in so many different countries, including our own?

Because mutants are an advanced form of human life, and everyone knows it. The mundane humans fear us, because they know that they are becoming obsolete. They fear us, and so they hate us. They hate us, and so they use everything at their disposal to oppress us. They stop us from getting jobs, and they prevent our voices from being heard in government. They control this country, and because they can’t kill us all off or kick us out, they try to keep us down. They try, and they succeed.

It is true that there are some mutants who still manage to make it to the top of American society, but this is not a sign that our lot in life will change, or even can change. Some of these mutants got to where they are only by hiding their mutations. Most of those who managed to climb the ladder while being open about their mutations could only do so with the help of their human friends. All of these ‘successful’ mutants have succeeded because they have separated themselves from their mutant heritage. These mutants are only barely deserving of the word ‘mutant.’ They do nothing to help mutantkind improve its lot. They feel no obligation to help their fellow mutants get ahead. In fact, by their very existence, they give many of us the illusion that we, too, can achieve the American dream by our own merits, if we work hard enough. They give us the illusion that humanity can learn tolerance, and that one day we will finally be accepted. But these ideas are lies, and those who believe them are naïve. The ‘successful’ class of mutants is just another tool that the Human Conspiracy uses to placate us, to keep us in our place at the very bottom.

In order to make the world change to accept mutants, we need power. And the only way for us to achieve this power is to unite. We can’t strive to be like the ‘successful’ liars that get ahead in this world, only looking out for ourselves. We need to recognize that we, as mutants, are part of a larger community of mutants, and that we, as mutants, need to look out for each other. Those mutants in high places should remember where they came from, and reach back to help pull the rest of us forward.

But they don’t. And whenever we try to unite as a people, human hatred and law enforcement work together to maintain the status quo. The humans dismiss any mutant organization that does not promote their interests as “terrorists” or “gangsters.” But this is just another lie that they use. Even when we do use illegal means to further our cause, it is only because we have no other choice.

Everything you know about the M drug is a lie. The “negative health effects” of the drug as cited by the government don’t have a single reputable scientific study backing them, and M users are no more a public safety concern than natural-born mutants, or mundane humans with licenses to carry concealed firearms. The stated reasons behind turning M into a schedule 1 controlled substance are lies. The real reason is that the government just wanted fewer ‘freaks’ like us running around.

The M drug could have been the most powerful tool we had in the fight against human hatred. Their hatred is a result of a collective inferiority complex on their part, and the fear that we’re rising to replace them. While we are, in fact, rising to replace them, that doesn’t mean we have to hate each other. The M drug means that humans can have our power, too. Although their genes are inferior, M allows these humans to overcome their genes. It undermines their hatred by giving them hope that they, too, can become like us. And unlike the hopes they give us for social advancement, the promises of the M drug held true. The Human Conspiracy saw M for the deadly assault on their anti-mutant position that it is; therefore, it had to become illegal. Now that it’s criminalized, those who sell and use it are vilified, denying America the most promising cure for the hatred that haunts us.

The power and hatred of the Human Conspiracy are such that any effort to change the system from the inside is doomed to fail. The only way that we mutants can take control of our own destinies is by breaking away from America entirely. Mutants should work to establish a Mutant colony, where we can have our own government, on our own land. Humans don’t want us in their land, after all, and we shouldn’t want to be in theirs either. It’s only natural that we should part ways.

The X-Men and groups like them have been toxic to the goals of the Mutant Rights movement, whether they meant to be or not. While you may find some of their rhetoric enticing, don’t let them fool you. Much of their philosophy plays into the hands of our oppressors. Their naïve calls for tolerance and unity with humans prevent their fellow mutants from realizing the truth: and the truth is that those things are unattainable. They should either help us in the fight for freedom, equality, and self-determination, or they should get out of our way.

The pamphlets also had the web addresses of several activism websites, and advertised upcoming protests and ways to get involved.