I agree wholeheartedly about these very odd beliefs, but I wonder why this is in written the past tense. My daughter still thinks these things (sex is a spectrum and some people are in bodies that don’t reflect their true selves, etc.) because this is still the prevailing view in our “liberal”!(complete misnomer) society.
The lies that have pushed vulnerable youth to make rash, irresponsible, self-destructive decisions are still out there. We desperately need to set the record straight.
Not one of these young people could possibly have provided informed consent for the medical interventions they have embarked on with reckless abandon because they have, in fact, been quite misinformed.
As one small example, Mamdami is in the lead for mayor of NYC and he wants to put $65 million dollars aside to poison and cut up youth who are uncomfortable in their healthy bodies - sorry to be so dramatic, but that is how I see his platform.
I can’t wait until this is truly in the past tense, but that time has not yet come.
Any dips in trans identity are probably because it’s less cool, not because the messages (the lies) have stopped being told. Institutional enforcement is a very current problem.
My question is how can we reach bright lights like Mamdani with reality? How do we reach any of them? I wrote to my senator, Patty Murray, expressing dismay about a pro-transgender law putting a women-only Korean day spa in jeopardy. Twice her office replied with a long email telling me of all the things they've done to support transgender rights. They all got the memo and swallowed it whole.
It's true, here in Australia the brainwashing and the virtue signalling is strong. Even very smart people have drunk the cool-aid. I send thank-you cards to public figures who speak up, to counter the hate I know they recieve. I send get-well cards to those who publicly defend it, I write these kindly, with a three point path to recovery: 1. Engage your critical thinking skills, 2. talk to other non-believers with an open heart, 3. make reparations to those who have been harmed by acknowledging the truth.
Looking at the picture you posted in your weekly roundup, I was struck by how clever and clear their messaging is: "save the trans kids." Who can be against that? How do we say, "save the gay, lesbian and neurodivergent kids?" When we say "save the gay, lesbian and neurodivergent kids from trans ideology?" all they hear is hate.
Saying "save the trans kids" is like saying "save the unicorn kids." What are we talking about? I tried to use the message "save the vulnerable kids. Help them to feel comfortable in their bodies and to know they are fine just as they are. Save them from unnecessary chemicals and surgeries." Trans activists can't seem to understand what that means.
They have been brainwashed (and by "they" I include the many parents who think of themselves as "allies" to their trans-identified kids) to believe that anything less than pro-trans rhetoric or efforts are genocidal. They counter with an automatic "why are you trying to erase my kid?"
Placing one's hopes on whether or not a politician who has ever mouthed the full transgender ideology catechism in order to gain votes then decides to give the appearance of moving/evolving/shifting one way or another prompts me to ask, why do we have to put up with such unserious people as candidates for office? Why focus on trying to persuade such easily manipulated individuals? Are there no reluctant servants to the public in our whole society? No Cincinnatus out there with as much charisma and access to resources as a Mamdani? Perhaps not in NY . . . but I've gotta hope there are elsewhere.
I'm afraid our system of electing "leaders" has overwhelmingly selected for politicians who behave like flies drawn in by pungent odors. When it comes to ideas, most are equally willing to land on ambrosia or shit. They require nothing more of a new ideology with which to align themselves than its apparent pervasiveness. And this pseudo-religious notion of "born in the wrong body," that any narcissist's fantasy of a self-conception must take precedence over biological reality certainly appears pervasive to the shallow thinker, because it has colonized most power centers in just a few short years, starting as a faint whiff in the elite institutions (universities), then seeping into regulations controlling classrooms, clinics, school playgrounds and HR departments. And mercenary politicians used it like pitons in their climbs to higher office, leaving it embedded it within the fine print of nearly every aspect of our over-centralized public policies so that our civilization will likely never be rid of its scent.
Ugg . . . but that's just because today I'm tempted by revolution (throw ALL the bums out!) . . . On another day, I'll be more inclined to believe there is anything earnest and reachable in my fellow human being, Mahmood Mamdani . . . but I doubt he'll be interested in paying attention to that part of himself while his star is rising . . .
There's a strong disincentive against moving to center on "social" issues like this, I think because the electoral base for Dems wants him on the "left" for this issue, and the economic base is either indifferent or can see financial opportunities from public funding. There's no reason for him to move on the issue, except reason. Please write the letter.
Yup. The “Globalize the Intifada” guy is a bright light apparently. I thought up until about a year ago that I might come back to the Democrats if they admitted they were wrong about the gender insanity and took some accountability but I have realized that I’m only coming back if the Republicans becomes a neo Nazi party and even then I’d have to weigh the risks and benefits between the Groypers and the Red-Green Alliance. Mamdani is an antisemite and they clearly do not care which says ever so much about their principles.
Yes, same with my daughter. She's still very much entrenched as a 19 year old, she even had a double mastectomy over the summer courtesy of Kaiser Permanente who diagnosed her with gender incongruence on the second visit with their "gender affirming therapist". This is medical malpractice and fraud.
Yes, Melissa, mine as a vulnerable 12-year-old back in fall, 2018, and I found out in spring, 2019, when she was just 13. It is indeed absurd and tragic, and I too will be so happy when the insanity ends. Then we can all begin to heal from, and reckon with, the damage done - to our daughters, to our families and to society.
Having spent decades studying American and Western propaganda operations in both foreign policy and on the domestic scene - I came to this same conclusion. When studying propaganda operations the following has become a truism for me. If all the MSM, all the major corporations, all of academia, all the big NGO's, Federal and state government offices, medical and psychological associations and licensing bodies, right down to my local YMCA - are all suddenly as if on command singing the same song - and that song is completely irrational, unscientific, detached from material reality and ideological in nature - you can be sure of "one thing" - you are being "gaslighted" by the big boys - by the oligarchy at the helm of Western societies.
The question to ask at that point is - "to what end?" Is this just the latest in "divide & conquer" tactics used to keep us at each other's throats? Or, is Jennifer Bilek correct that this is being used by "our betters" as a way to "normalize" unnecessary surgeries and body modification in service to a "brave & stunning" future of transhumanist surgical implants, chips and mutilation. I will admit that I have become cynical enough at this point to suspect we will one day see the evolving medical/tech/AI industries ride in on their white horse posing as "heroes" as they offer our youth the latest in chips and brain implants that will allow thousands of mutilated children to finally experience sexual pleasure as adults - after having earlier surrendered their physical sexual organs to castration on the alter of the gender-gods. One can almost bet on it. Create the problem - create the solution - and then tally your profits.
I think there's something about us humans' instinctive terror at the prospect of a random universe which compels us to believe in conspiracy: that there's some intelligent few capable of anticipating so many aspects of a population's behavior that they can actually orchestrate the actions of millions?
But what if this "perfect storm" of so many disparate pockets of "movers and shakers" suddenly "singing the same song" is merely due to the phenomenon of emergent order—the concept that complex, coordinated systems (like global supply chains) arise spontaneously from individual actions without central planning or direction? (see quickie intro to emergent order: I, Pencil, The Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYO3tOqDISE )
Complex patterns in the mass behavior of living things, like a murmuration of birds, happens all the time without any "oligarchy at the helm." I think, sadly, the source of inspiration for inhuman "solutions" to both biology-caused and human-created problems alike lies within the nature of the human species. Looking for evil geniuses who are supposedly directing a mass migration towards bad ideas so that "the good guys" can somehow "stop" them seems like a red herring to me. (Like the mythical hydra, chopping off one oligarch's head merely leaves a void that a new one quickly grows to occupy, being that humanity itself is the supply.) I suspect the only real way out of this is to come up with ways to attract people away from a destructive ideology . . . incentives more powerful than status-seeking and fear of banishment. And Good luck finding those.
I appreciate your perspective Heather, and I really wish I could believe it true. That this is all somehow beyond human control, like the massing of birds. However, 40+ years of rather diligent study of the endless official government operations that could all be considered - "conspiracies" - by definition - suggests otherwise. Billionaire Martine Rothblatt's 2011 book - "From Transgender to Transhuman: A Manifesto on the Freedom of Form" - is about as specific as one can get about using his funding donations and support for the promotion of transgender-ideology as a stepping stone to a transhuman future in which the modification of the human brain and body are the basic building blocks of a supposedly brave new world. Billionaires like Rothblatt and transgender billionaire Jennifer Pritzker provide many millions of dollars to everything from creating a university "chair" in "transgender studies" - to huge donations to NGO's like the ACLU - a once admirable organization which subsequently morphed overnight from a defender of free speech to demonizing anyone who publicly claims men cannot magically become women (see cast out former ACLU attorney Kara Dansky as an example). Even with such obvious and open funding streams I don't consider any of these players "evil geniuses" (your term), simply uber-wealthy people with an agenda that just "happens" to fit rather nicely with the agenda emanating out of Silicon Valley big tech related to a future of merging implants, AI and other high-tech developments with the human brain and body. There is literally an endless parade of tech billionaires openly discussing their hopes for such a future. The difference between these individuals and the collective structures and forces in sync with their wishes is that they possess massive amounts of capital which is spent daily on university appointments, and political and NGO donations, MSM articles, journal articles, etc. - all openly promoting this hybrid agenda - money which those of us who oppose the mutilation of children lack. When I use the word "oligarchy" that is what I'm referring to. Jennifer Bilek's research on these funding streams is quite enlightening. As far as suggesting that the term "conspiracy" - refers to simply a way to evade the human - "terror at the prospect of a random universe" - I dare say that upon even cursory inspection there does not appear to be anything particularly "random" about the rather open and obvious promotion of both transgender ideology and transhuman ideology across the Western world from the "top down" - rather than as a response to "grass roots" majority public opinion.
Well, Gary, I too appreciate what you're bringing to the table here. Yes, the Martine Rothblatts and Jennifer Pritzgers of the world certainly manifest the fatal conceit that they can remake human nature to suit their warped fantasies. I suppose, my only response is to make the arguably impractical observation that, whether your interpretation of the facts or mine is correct, depends wholly on how far we pull back to take in the bigger picture.
From an historical perspective, the Utopianists of the world, the Stalins, the Hitlers, the Mao Zedongs, the Pol Pots, the Kim Il-sungs, all ultimately failed to impose their visions of perfect human behavior (e.g. the "new Socialist man" or the population's perfect adherence to "Juche"). But it does take some pretty cold analytics to set aside the death and destruction they're able to bring about for decades before a sufficient percentage of the surviving population they've fooled and dominated for so long finally manages to get out from under their regimes' control.
So how much faith do we place in the aphorism: "the bigger they become, the harder they fall" and how little faith do we place in the fact that we've got the hard cold realities of human instincts and human biology on our side . . . and we've got a lot of cultural tradition that conveys story after story after story of how the hubristic mighty got toppled by the small and weak, but consequently agile. (Of course, that could be survivor bias talking . . . those who suggest that the journey is the source of meaning, not the destination, might point out that even fighting on the losing side will bring each of us more happiness and self-respect during our brief times breathing on this planet, so stick with the least bad option . . . ? Shrug.)
Excellent point. These kids have never known anything different. We didn’t really think we had to highlight the fact that there were two sexes and really reinforce it because…well, we didn’t know there were billions of dollars and activists all over the world trying to topple life itself as we knew it and using children and kindness to do it.
I think all the time about a young woman I know who declared a trans identity at age 16 and within a year was put on testosterone and had her breasts removed. She then decided she wasn’t actually a man (at age 18) but was nonbinary. She has changed how she identifies and the pronouns she prefers at least once since then (I use “she” for simplicity and because she is female) and also has gone back and forth between wearing women’s clothing, hairstyles and makeup and a more gender neutral or masculine coded presentation. I got to know her this summer and she is an incredibly intelligent, interesting, likely autistic person, and extremely sensitive. She’s having a hard time in life and I wonder what goes on in her mind when she thinks about all of this. I hate that she will never be able to undo the harm done to her body but there has also been harm done to her mind. And everyone involved were good liberals, on the right side of history etc.
The optimist in me is hoping that doctors can help detransitioners but the pessimist in me says their will be doctors who will be doing it for the money because this their new clientele.
I also wish more people would publish this information.
Thank you, Lisa. What you have written here is perfectly pitched toward liberals and progressives, who most need to hear this and grasp honestly with what they are supporting. I also appreciate Hippiesq’s amendment from past to present tense, as well as her noting of Mamdani’s egregious platform plank, which is very much alive and which he has done nothing to address. Too few people know, let alone understand, what Mamdani is proposing (which Hippiesq describes accurately, in my view).
It has become virtually impossible to discuss this with those who support Mamdani, as there is so much hyper-politicized overlay about his candidacy. The fact remains that, while Mamdani has made efforts to reach out to other concerned constituent groups, he does not appear even to recognize that this particular concerned constituent group exists. At a minimum, he should be called upon to drop this plank and convene a meeting with those who have not been heard on the utterly valid concerns Hippiesq notes here.
Indeed - all very well put, Hippiesq. And no apologies needed - that's exactly what the Mamdani plan proposes, and - as I understand them - what's behind each school, city hall, place of worship that flies the progress pride flag (of which there are many in my area).
Additional useful terms include: cross sex ideation, captured language, Piaget denial. This last I just invented, for the fact that the long-accepted stages of child development, sensory motor, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational, from Swiss researcher, Jean Piaget cannot fit with the concepts of "born in the wrong body" and "known since birth." Another concept of Piaget's is object permanence, which starts developing around age 4.
I imagine there will be many doctors willing to help as awareness grows of the harms done to this population and once they no longer risk their livelihood to offer their services to help those still struggling with gender dysphoria
Sorry to disagree, but I had long expected this to be in no small part a social contagion. I am almost 70 and gay and I can tell you you that coming out never led to the small clusters of homosexuals as it did the trans issue.
The progressive political sites I visit, Slate, TPM Media, Brian Beutler's column on substack and others are steadfast in their support of trans ideology though I sometimes think it's because broaching the subject head on would lead to rifts within these communities rather than full-fledged support. The result is the same however. Young people who have grown up in that spike period will be loathe to give up their friends to the enemy. Changing their minds will be difficult because it means giving up that part of their identity they put at their moral center.
My question is how can we reach bright lights like Mamdani with reality? How do we reach any of them? I wrote to my senator, Patty Murray, expressing dismay about a pro-transgender law putting a women-only Korean day spa in jeopardy. Twice her office replied with a long email telling me of all the things they've done to support transgender rights. They all got the memo and swallowed it whole.
Good question. I've written to all of my reps -- federal, state, local -- about this topic, sometimes more than once. And all I get -- *IF* I get anything, because some of them just ignore my letters -- is the usual bullshit boilerplate reply, condescendingly lecturing me, no less, on LGB history.
99% of Democratic politicians are fully on board with this insane ideology, and I don't know how we get them to see reason. The few who do and who have spoken out about it are immediately excoriated and punished, and don't seem to have convinced any of their Dem brethren to wake up. I wish I had some answers.
I agree wholeheartedly about these very odd beliefs, but I wonder why this is in written the past tense. My daughter still thinks these things (sex is a spectrum and some people are in bodies that don’t reflect their true selves, etc.) because this is still the prevailing view in our “liberal”!(complete misnomer) society.
The lies that have pushed vulnerable youth to make rash, irresponsible, self-destructive decisions are still out there. We desperately need to set the record straight.
Not one of these young people could possibly have provided informed consent for the medical interventions they have embarked on with reckless abandon because they have, in fact, been quite misinformed.
As one small example, Mamdami is in the lead for mayor of NYC and he wants to put $65 million dollars aside to poison and cut up youth who are uncomfortable in their healthy bodies - sorry to be so dramatic, but that is how I see his platform.
I can’t wait until this is truly in the past tense, but that time has not yet come.
Any dips in trans identity are probably because it’s less cool, not because the messages (the lies) have stopped being told. Institutional enforcement is a very current problem.
Fair point! It's not like just because there's a line on a graph that it's all evaporated. My kids were taught this stuff last year!
My question is how can we reach bright lights like Mamdani with reality? How do we reach any of them? I wrote to my senator, Patty Murray, expressing dismay about a pro-transgender law putting a women-only Korean day spa in jeopardy. Twice her office replied with a long email telling me of all the things they've done to support transgender rights. They all got the memo and swallowed it whole.
I wish Mamdani were reachable. I'm working on an open letter to him but...he has moved to the center but not on that.
It's true, here in Australia the brainwashing and the virtue signalling is strong. Even very smart people have drunk the cool-aid. I send thank-you cards to public figures who speak up, to counter the hate I know they recieve. I send get-well cards to those who publicly defend it, I write these kindly, with a three point path to recovery: 1. Engage your critical thinking skills, 2. talk to other non-believers with an open heart, 3. make reparations to those who have been harmed by acknowledging the truth.
Looking at the picture you posted in your weekly roundup, I was struck by how clever and clear their messaging is: "save the trans kids." Who can be against that? How do we say, "save the gay, lesbian and neurodivergent kids?" When we say "save the gay, lesbian and neurodivergent kids from trans ideology?" all they hear is hate.
Saying "save the trans kids" is like saying "save the unicorn kids." What are we talking about? I tried to use the message "save the vulnerable kids. Help them to feel comfortable in their bodies and to know they are fine just as they are. Save them from unnecessary chemicals and surgeries." Trans activists can't seem to understand what that means.
Exactly. If they took the time to understand, their whole world view would shatter.
They have been brainwashed (and by "they" I include the many parents who think of themselves as "allies" to their trans-identified kids) to believe that anything less than pro-trans rhetoric or efforts are genocidal. They counter with an automatic "why are you trying to erase my kid?"
Placing one's hopes on whether or not a politician who has ever mouthed the full transgender ideology catechism in order to gain votes then decides to give the appearance of moving/evolving/shifting one way or another prompts me to ask, why do we have to put up with such unserious people as candidates for office? Why focus on trying to persuade such easily manipulated individuals? Are there no reluctant servants to the public in our whole society? No Cincinnatus out there with as much charisma and access to resources as a Mamdani? Perhaps not in NY . . . but I've gotta hope there are elsewhere.
I'm afraid our system of electing "leaders" has overwhelmingly selected for politicians who behave like flies drawn in by pungent odors. When it comes to ideas, most are equally willing to land on ambrosia or shit. They require nothing more of a new ideology with which to align themselves than its apparent pervasiveness. And this pseudo-religious notion of "born in the wrong body," that any narcissist's fantasy of a self-conception must take precedence over biological reality certainly appears pervasive to the shallow thinker, because it has colonized most power centers in just a few short years, starting as a faint whiff in the elite institutions (universities), then seeping into regulations controlling classrooms, clinics, school playgrounds and HR departments. And mercenary politicians used it like pitons in their climbs to higher office, leaving it embedded it within the fine print of nearly every aspect of our over-centralized public policies so that our civilization will likely never be rid of its scent.
Ugg . . . but that's just because today I'm tempted by revolution (throw ALL the bums out!) . . . On another day, I'll be more inclined to believe there is anything earnest and reachable in my fellow human being, Mahmood Mamdani . . . but I doubt he'll be interested in paying attention to that part of himself while his star is rising . . .
There's a strong disincentive against moving to center on "social" issues like this, I think because the electoral base for Dems wants him on the "left" for this issue, and the economic base is either indifferent or can see financial opportunities from public funding. There's no reason for him to move on the issue, except reason. Please write the letter.
Mamdani is no bright light.
Yup. The “Globalize the Intifada” guy is a bright light apparently. I thought up until about a year ago that I might come back to the Democrats if they admitted they were wrong about the gender insanity and took some accountability but I have realized that I’m only coming back if the Republicans becomes a neo Nazi party and even then I’d have to weigh the risks and benefits between the Groypers and the Red-Green Alliance. Mamdani is an antisemite and they clearly do not care which says ever so much about their principles.
He’s from a settler colonialist family of Indians in Uganda. Wealthy communist trash
Yes, same with my daughter. She's still very much entrenched as a 19 year old, she even had a double mastectomy over the summer courtesy of Kaiser Permanente who diagnosed her with gender incongruence on the second visit with their "gender affirming therapist". This is medical malpractice and fraud.
I am so sorry
Great points, as usual Hippiesq.
Hippiesq, I believe both of our daughters were captured years ago. It's not easy to let go--especially after medicalization.
My hope is that this trans train shuts down.
It's both absurd and tragic.
Yes, Melissa, mine as a vulnerable 12-year-old back in fall, 2018, and I found out in spring, 2019, when she was just 13. It is indeed absurd and tragic, and I too will be so happy when the insanity ends. Then we can all begin to heal from, and reckon with, the damage done - to our daughters, to our families and to society.
Well noted, Hippiesq. Thank you.
Mamdami is a Commie Clown, but a dangerous clown nonetheless!
"Institutional enforcement" is an excellent characterization. I'll start using it and crediting you.
Having spent decades studying American and Western propaganda operations in both foreign policy and on the domestic scene - I came to this same conclusion. When studying propaganda operations the following has become a truism for me. If all the MSM, all the major corporations, all of academia, all the big NGO's, Federal and state government offices, medical and psychological associations and licensing bodies, right down to my local YMCA - are all suddenly as if on command singing the same song - and that song is completely irrational, unscientific, detached from material reality and ideological in nature - you can be sure of "one thing" - you are being "gaslighted" by the big boys - by the oligarchy at the helm of Western societies.
The question to ask at that point is - "to what end?" Is this just the latest in "divide & conquer" tactics used to keep us at each other's throats? Or, is Jennifer Bilek correct that this is being used by "our betters" as a way to "normalize" unnecessary surgeries and body modification in service to a "brave & stunning" future of transhumanist surgical implants, chips and mutilation. I will admit that I have become cynical enough at this point to suspect we will one day see the evolving medical/tech/AI industries ride in on their white horse posing as "heroes" as they offer our youth the latest in chips and brain implants that will allow thousands of mutilated children to finally experience sexual pleasure as adults - after having earlier surrendered their physical sexual organs to castration on the alter of the gender-gods. One can almost bet on it. Create the problem - create the solution - and then tally your profits.
I think there's something about us humans' instinctive terror at the prospect of a random universe which compels us to believe in conspiracy: that there's some intelligent few capable of anticipating so many aspects of a population's behavior that they can actually orchestrate the actions of millions?
But what if this "perfect storm" of so many disparate pockets of "movers and shakers" suddenly "singing the same song" is merely due to the phenomenon of emergent order—the concept that complex, coordinated systems (like global supply chains) arise spontaneously from individual actions without central planning or direction? (see quickie intro to emergent order: I, Pencil, The Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYO3tOqDISE )
Complex patterns in the mass behavior of living things, like a murmuration of birds, happens all the time without any "oligarchy at the helm." I think, sadly, the source of inspiration for inhuman "solutions" to both biology-caused and human-created problems alike lies within the nature of the human species. Looking for evil geniuses who are supposedly directing a mass migration towards bad ideas so that "the good guys" can somehow "stop" them seems like a red herring to me. (Like the mythical hydra, chopping off one oligarch's head merely leaves a void that a new one quickly grows to occupy, being that humanity itself is the supply.) I suspect the only real way out of this is to come up with ways to attract people away from a destructive ideology . . . incentives more powerful than status-seeking and fear of banishment. And Good luck finding those.
I appreciate your perspective Heather, and I really wish I could believe it true. That this is all somehow beyond human control, like the massing of birds. However, 40+ years of rather diligent study of the endless official government operations that could all be considered - "conspiracies" - by definition - suggests otherwise. Billionaire Martine Rothblatt's 2011 book - "From Transgender to Transhuman: A Manifesto on the Freedom of Form" - is about as specific as one can get about using his funding donations and support for the promotion of transgender-ideology as a stepping stone to a transhuman future in which the modification of the human brain and body are the basic building blocks of a supposedly brave new world. Billionaires like Rothblatt and transgender billionaire Jennifer Pritzker provide many millions of dollars to everything from creating a university "chair" in "transgender studies" - to huge donations to NGO's like the ACLU - a once admirable organization which subsequently morphed overnight from a defender of free speech to demonizing anyone who publicly claims men cannot magically become women (see cast out former ACLU attorney Kara Dansky as an example). Even with such obvious and open funding streams I don't consider any of these players "evil geniuses" (your term), simply uber-wealthy people with an agenda that just "happens" to fit rather nicely with the agenda emanating out of Silicon Valley big tech related to a future of merging implants, AI and other high-tech developments with the human brain and body. There is literally an endless parade of tech billionaires openly discussing their hopes for such a future. The difference between these individuals and the collective structures and forces in sync with their wishes is that they possess massive amounts of capital which is spent daily on university appointments, and political and NGO donations, MSM articles, journal articles, etc. - all openly promoting this hybrid agenda - money which those of us who oppose the mutilation of children lack. When I use the word "oligarchy" that is what I'm referring to. Jennifer Bilek's research on these funding streams is quite enlightening. As far as suggesting that the term "conspiracy" - refers to simply a way to evade the human - "terror at the prospect of a random universe" - I dare say that upon even cursory inspection there does not appear to be anything particularly "random" about the rather open and obvious promotion of both transgender ideology and transhuman ideology across the Western world from the "top down" - rather than as a response to "grass roots" majority public opinion.
Well, Gary, I too appreciate what you're bringing to the table here. Yes, the Martine Rothblatts and Jennifer Pritzgers of the world certainly manifest the fatal conceit that they can remake human nature to suit their warped fantasies. I suppose, my only response is to make the arguably impractical observation that, whether your interpretation of the facts or mine is correct, depends wholly on how far we pull back to take in the bigger picture.
From an historical perspective, the Utopianists of the world, the Stalins, the Hitlers, the Mao Zedongs, the Pol Pots, the Kim Il-sungs, all ultimately failed to impose their visions of perfect human behavior (e.g. the "new Socialist man" or the population's perfect adherence to "Juche"). But it does take some pretty cold analytics to set aside the death and destruction they're able to bring about for decades before a sufficient percentage of the surviving population they've fooled and dominated for so long finally manages to get out from under their regimes' control.
So how much faith do we place in the aphorism: "the bigger they become, the harder they fall" and how little faith do we place in the fact that we've got the hard cold realities of human instincts and human biology on our side . . . and we've got a lot of cultural tradition that conveys story after story after story of how the hubristic mighty got toppled by the small and weak, but consequently agile. (Of course, that could be survivor bias talking . . . those who suggest that the journey is the source of meaning, not the destination, might point out that even fighting on the losing side will bring each of us more happiness and self-respect during our brief times breathing on this planet, so stick with the least bad option . . . ? Shrug.)
100%
Excellent point. These kids have never known anything different. We didn’t really think we had to highlight the fact that there were two sexes and really reinforce it because…well, we didn’t know there were billions of dollars and activists all over the world trying to topple life itself as we knew it and using children and kindness to do it.
"and using children and kindness to do it."
Faux kindness.
But yes. It's the greatest medical scandal of our time.
I think all the time about a young woman I know who declared a trans identity at age 16 and within a year was put on testosterone and had her breasts removed. She then decided she wasn’t actually a man (at age 18) but was nonbinary. She has changed how she identifies and the pronouns she prefers at least once since then (I use “she” for simplicity and because she is female) and also has gone back and forth between wearing women’s clothing, hairstyles and makeup and a more gender neutral or masculine coded presentation. I got to know her this summer and she is an incredibly intelligent, interesting, likely autistic person, and extremely sensitive. She’s having a hard time in life and I wonder what goes on in her mind when she thinks about all of this. I hate that she will never be able to undo the harm done to her body but there has also been harm done to her mind. And everyone involved were good liberals, on the right side of history etc.
The optimist in me is hoping that doctors can help detransitioners but the pessimist in me says their will be doctors who will be doing it for the money because this their new clientele.
I also wish more people would publish this information.
Thank you.
Thank you, Lisa. What you have written here is perfectly pitched toward liberals and progressives, who most need to hear this and grasp honestly with what they are supporting. I also appreciate Hippiesq’s amendment from past to present tense, as well as her noting of Mamdani’s egregious platform plank, which is very much alive and which he has done nothing to address. Too few people know, let alone understand, what Mamdani is proposing (which Hippiesq describes accurately, in my view).
It has become virtually impossible to discuss this with those who support Mamdani, as there is so much hyper-politicized overlay about his candidacy. The fact remains that, while Mamdani has made efforts to reach out to other concerned constituent groups, he does not appear even to recognize that this particular concerned constituent group exists. At a minimum, he should be called upon to drop this plank and convene a meeting with those who have not been heard on the utterly valid concerns Hippiesq notes here.
Indeed - all very well put, Hippiesq. And no apologies needed - that's exactly what the Mamdani plan proposes, and - as I understand them - what's behind each school, city hall, place of worship that flies the progress pride flag (of which there are many in my area).
Additional useful terms include: cross sex ideation, captured language, Piaget denial. This last I just invented, for the fact that the long-accepted stages of child development, sensory motor, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational, from Swiss researcher, Jean Piaget cannot fit with the concepts of "born in the wrong body" and "known since birth." Another concept of Piaget's is object permanence, which starts developing around age 4.
I imagine there will be many doctors willing to help as awareness grows of the harms done to this population and once they no longer risk their livelihood to offer their services to help those still struggling with gender dysphoria
Sorry to disagree, but I had long expected this to be in no small part a social contagion. I am almost 70 and gay and I can tell you you that coming out never led to the small clusters of homosexuals as it did the trans issue.
The progressive political sites I visit, Slate, TPM Media, Brian Beutler's column on substack and others are steadfast in their support of trans ideology though I sometimes think it's because broaching the subject head on would lead to rifts within these communities rather than full-fledged support. The result is the same however. Young people who have grown up in that spike period will be loathe to give up their friends to the enemy. Changing their minds will be difficult because it means giving up that part of their identity they put at their moral center.
My question is how can we reach bright lights like Mamdani with reality? How do we reach any of them? I wrote to my senator, Patty Murray, expressing dismay about a pro-transgender law putting a women-only Korean day spa in jeopardy. Twice her office replied with a long email telling me of all the things they've done to support transgender rights. They all got the memo and swallowed it whole.
"How do we reach any of them?"
Good question. I've written to all of my reps -- federal, state, local -- about this topic, sometimes more than once. And all I get -- *IF* I get anything, because some of them just ignore my letters -- is the usual bullshit boilerplate reply, condescendingly lecturing me, no less, on LGB history.
99% of Democratic politicians are fully on board with this insane ideology, and I don't know how we get them to see reason. The few who do and who have spoken out about it are immediately excoriated and punished, and don't seem to have convinced any of their Dem brethren to wake up. I wish I had some answers.
Beautiful piece full of hope.
An important perspective. These children were lied to and indoctrinated by adults. They cannot now be blamed and abandoned.
JK Rowling was right, and increasingly everyone knows it: https://theunlightenment.substack.com/p/the-moral-courage-of-jk-rowling