I can’t help but put my opinion out here too for critique.
Roff has, in his own way, made a point that I see happen a lot and it is a major contributor to the increased polarization of the left/right divide.
Expressing a dissenting opinion of conservatives is seen as fully acceptable and trendy. Almost like the right is expected to have their stereotypical thick skin and not care.
Expressing a dissenting opinion of liberals is a hate crime. Deplorable. Career suicide for anyone so foolish. Crucified by everyone, in fear of being associated with the thing said.
That has lead to say...
Hypothetical: I have a well researched and heart felt objection to a government program that assists urban youth. Not because I don’t want to help but I feel like the raise in taxes will do more to support giant government bureaucracy and little actual positive change in the target group.
IF I was to say something about that, I would be lumped into a racist, sexist, homophobic, flat-earth, climate change denier group.
The rebuke from the left is harsh. Many MANY times it is called for. But I have seen decent people overwhelmed and silenced with that tactic. And it sucks.
Even here on MA, the “conversation” turns into partisan shit flinging. Where nobody tries to listen to the speaker but rather hunt for trigger words to detonate.
I will pick one thing that Roff said and give my thoughts to it. See how you take it. Am I satan himself trying to reverse positive change? Or am I being reasonable in a world of increasing crazy.
That topic: Gender
There are not 99 different genders. Ken was using hyperbole. Nobody is allowed to have an opinion on this topic anymore, but who closed the floor for debate? And are we in a good place? I think not.
I think human sexuality is an amazing thing. I think we all do well to understand that the drive/need for physical intimacy is immutable. Among consenting adults, I think any expression that gives someone pleasure without causing harm should be their right to do.
If that is homosexuality, great. Wanna go both ways? Great. If you decide that surgically changing your gender will better allow you to enjoy your human sexuality, I say that seems extreme to me, but perfectly acceptable so long as you are doing for the healthy reason of enjoying your natural right to be sexy however you wanna get down.
I don’t think there is a biological basis to support that male brains are born into female bodies. Or vice versa. Maybe in the rarest cases, a person that presents male has the gonad action of a female and that causes something beyond my comprehension to take place. So be it.
If a 12 year old gets the idea that they aren’t what they were born as, I don’t think society should encourage them to change their gender. It feels dangerously trendy.
If a person is male and is sexually attracted to males or feels like they relate better to a female mentality, that doesn’t mean they were born wrong and the only appropriate action is to start hormone therapy.
If we accepted any and all expressions of personality and sexuality, without goddamned labels, we could probably progress way faster as a species.
Does that statement above put me into a hate group? Am I attacking people? Or am I trying to use logic and my personal life experiences (along with no degree but a fair amount of psychological education) to form an opinion that deserves discussion and well thought out rebuttal? If I am proven wrong, I will concede. If I am just made a public example for shame and ridicule for intentional misinterpretation of my words, well that just makes a person go away mad and harbor resentment.
I want to have profitable discourse about hard topics again. We need to learn that ability again. I don’t want to be ignorant. But I don’t want to be attacked for speaking my thoughts out loud. We need to feel safe enough to have these kinds of conversations.
PS wonder if they will ever put a character limit into MA posts?