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ood morning brothers and sisters. Today when I speak to you, I will speak to you as a gentlemen, for I’ve noticed that a far greater effect is achieved when one protests against the annihilation of his own species rather than any other. So, for today, or at least for the duration of this speech, I am a Gentleman.
I stand before you all today to beg for your support to our dying race, But before you give us your approval, you must ask, “What is a Gentleman?”
A Gentleman is a respectable person of noble stature and personal integrity. Initially, the title was only bestowed upon men of high social standing. But I say that anyone can be a Gentlemen. All that is needed is a certain degree of chivalry, responsibility , and a good value system.
Now friends, let me remind you of a time, perhaps before any of us were born, when common courtesy and random acts of kindness were prevalent on the streets. As of now Gentlemen, the most discussed road related topics is road rage. In this time of relative bliss I mentioned abusing was considered a weapon for the destitute and a weapon for the poor, not poor by economic or physical standards, but poor by character.
Today we find that abusing has become a necessity if we want to be integrated into any form of social life, and as much as ones principles may disallow the use of abusive language, he, or sadly to say, she, will sacrifice his or her principles for social acceptance.
Some of you may now be pondering over my last line. About how I said “he, or sadly to say, she”. It is not unlikely that words such as chauvinist may have crept into your minds.
So let me now friends, introduce you to the concept of a lady.
The word lady has changed in meaning and in reference over the years. It has now evolved into a rather complicated term, and for sake of avoiding any accusations of harbouring chauvinistic ideas, I will limit myself to describing ladies as the society perceived them in a more relevant time.
Ladies were the home makers of that time. Obviously no one wanted their home, which was to many a place of comfort and solace, to be polluted with foul language or crass behaviour. So ladies came to be seen as the pinnacle of grace, etiquette and composure. A lady was supposed to be kind, gentle, honest, compassionate, and patient and was supposed to have a good sense of humour which involved jokes not directed at others. Nowadays, though, we see very few “ladies” coming even close to that definition. However, I agree that the image of a lady I’ve been portraying may be a little too extreme for the 21st Century. But I’m not asking anyone to adhere religiously to that image. All I’m saying is that modernisation does not necessitate shedding of moral values.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we stand at the dawn of a new age. An age which I find to be in stark contrast with the old one. And at this crucial juncture, I feel that we must ask ourselves the question “Out of all the pros and cons of mankind are chivalry, gentlemanliness, and lady-like attributes really the things we want to leave behind?” Or are there, Ladies and Gentlemen, other things, things such as criminal tendencies and objectionable behaviour that should be consigned to the past.
This new age involves all of us, Ladies and Gentlemen, whether we like it or not, and so we must take active part in shaping its culture. No longer must we wallow in self-pity over our dwindling numbers, no longer must we lie in supine non-objection to the death of class. We must act! There may come a day when our race is completely wiped out. A day when crime is rampant in the cities, murder, and abuse everywhere. But it is not this day. For today we live! And so we fight!
I have been calling you all Ladies and Gentlemen for some time now, hoping to bring out the part in our hearts which still wants to be chivalrous, that little part that prompts you to hold open the door when somebody enters after you, the little part, my friends, that still craves a truly civilized society.
I would now like to conclude by saying:
“Ladies and Gentlemen! The world needs us! Let’s try to not disappoint.”
Devesh Singhal
42/A/14
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We Gentlemen, A Dying Breed
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