One of the weirder things I have witnessed over the past twenty years of blogging is how so many writers out there, particularly those with an ax to grind about an issue or issues approach things as if they, alone have the gospel truth, and that what they are writing, if followed, will change the trajectory of the world. It’s really bizarre, honestly.
The proximate cause of this discussion is earlier today I noticed Jesse Singal, a middling intellect and former writer for one of the NY rags, who has spent the last few years ranting about Trans issues. He’s one of Sully and Greenwald’s favorites, so that means he is kind of an edgelord douchebag with a dubious grasp of statistical analysis. Speaking of statistics, there is literally nothing that statistically ignorant writerslove more than a shoddy meta-analysis. It’s the dataset equivalent of of an asset backed security potentially jammed full of subprime loan tranches. At any rate, Singal was picking a fight with, of all people, Drew Magary:
Lol at picking a fight with Magary https://t.co/12cgYjqP5Y
— John Cole (@Johngcole) March 2, 2023
If Magary even bothers to respond, this is not going to end the way it played out in Singal’s head when he started this ruckus.
Back to the point. Singal and those like him always seem to write as if the very existence of our species and nation is at stake if these issues with the troublesome trans people are not dealt with, and dealt with in the way he sees fit at this very moment (because, as we know, that may change moment to moment). It’s really kind of crazy.
There are so many people out there who really do not realize they are not the main character in this story, and I don’t know if that has changed over the past few decades because we spent so many years boosting people’s self esteem instead of making sure people have accurate self esteem, if the internet has just given everyone a bigger megaphone, or who knows what else. But when these guys write, it feels like they think they are at the helm of Civ IV making big decisions about the shape of their empire, rather than just being some windbag blasting out noxious fumes into an already smelly public discourse.
The trans and other various antigay bigots are really special cases, though, in that they seem to think there is some concerted effort teh left or the other villain du jour to transition everyone to the ick. And it’s just so absurd. First off, so what. If 50% of the population decided overnight they were going to transition, I would give zero fucks because it is not going to change how I live my life in any way, shape, or form. I’m still going to have the same like and dislikes, and the same sexual attraction I have always had and still have my “type.”. In case any of you are wondering what my type is, at this age it’s “willing.”
At any rate, none of the anti-trans shit that Republicans and others are pushing is going to change the number of trans people out there, just like no amount of bigotry is going to change the number of gay people out there. They’re still going to be trans, they’re just going to be more miserable than they already are, which if you look at the numbers for kids, is fucking horrifying.
And, if you are an old like me, you don’t have to fucking understand it. It literally does not impact your life. All you need to do is call people what they want to be called, don’t be a fucking bigot, and mind your own fucking business.
On a side note thank you for all the roofing advice- I have a person coming on Monday to give me a bunch of estimates.
Also, I am driving to Rhode Island tomorrow to pick up the cat this weekend.