"Confusing children during pivotal construction of their identity."
Discovering and accepting your identity very much is what transitioning is. According to general society being born as a specific sex implies that identity. In everything from hobbies, clothing, friends.
But what if you realise your identity does not align with what your sex implies? Even if it's something small like a 15-year old boy who likes knitting. That aspect of their identity goes against the implied or expected identity that is based on their physical sex. Is the boy confused because he likes knitting or because what he's been told what his identity should be doesn't mesh with who he is?
"Suicide causes for transgender teens is often reported as bullying or bigotry, but not often reported on the lack of support for dysphoria and other mental health conditions."
How are transgender teens supposed to get support for dysphoria if they are instead isolated? In my experience dysphoria isn't something you just talk to a therapist about and then it's cured.
It's the horrible visceral feeling I got whenever I was forced to wear a dress shirt. What fixed that? Not wearing a dress shirt. The freedom to wear the clothes that make me comfortable.
"A lack of stability in life often leads to chaotic life altering decisions, sometimes self harm and death."
My life wasn't more stable before I knew what transgender meant and realised I didn't identify as a man when I was 19. It was filled with depression, self-isolation, and suicidal ideation. A slow but steady spiral into nothingness. It's not like dysphoria only exists if we know it exists.
Realising I was trans was certainly chaotic. But the reason it was so chaotic was that the identity that had been built up for me was shattered. So now I had to find and rebuild my identity from scratch. What most people spend their time doing from 5-16 I had to do over because I didn't fit into the identity I was told to build.
I dealt with self-harm. Still struggle with it sometimes. I learned as a kid to bottle up my feelings. Be it regular sadness or stress, or dysphoria.
So I began to use self-harm as a way to escape and cope with those feelings. When I could no longer bottle them up. Just like how people drink to drown their sorrows or do drugs to escape reality.
I believe I never would have begun to self-harm if I had been able to build the identity I wanted from the start. If I was allowed to cry, or to express myself in ways that help me cope naturally.
Why is the inclusion of people - or teenagers in this case - that don't fit the pre-existing mould and expectations such a problem? The idea that not everyone automatically fits into pre-conceived notions of what a boy and a girl is, or likes, or does, or acts. Is that such a threat to school or society in general?
Yes we need more help for people with gender dysphoria. But that help isn't isolation from society. That help isn't stopping people from trying to figure out who they really are.
People can hate other people simply to make themselves feel better. Or for societal gain.
That is less a reason for "why should this person be hated", and more "what will I gain for hating/inciting hate against this person".
You can go to pretty much any school and find someone being excluded or bullied for a nonsensical reason.
I remember growing up when being "gay" was the worst thing someone could be in middleschool. That hate didn't come from reasoned arguments or even fear. It came from something being different and the knowledge of calling someone out for being gay could societally give you a leg up on them.
I think I somewhat misunderstood you previous argument.
As the original argument of the post-chain was the comparison of the Allies carpetbombing Germany (resulting in civilian casualties), and the attacks by Israel (which has also resulted in civilian casualties). I understood your post as justifying the civilian casualties behind their beliefs.
While I do not agree with your thought that people who fight against human-rights have their rights revoked. I can at least to some degree understand your point of view.
It is my opinion murder should be an absolute last resort, and only in cases where a crime has been committed and no other options are available.
On the point of civilian deaths resulting from any attack (be it the Allies, Israel, Hamas or other). I don't find it acceptable in any way. And that is why I used the words "twisted logic".
I understood your stance as anyone who thinks differently regarding LGBTQ-rights regardless of any crimes commited should be killed. Which I harshly disagree with.
Any wasp I see.
It's a fig wasp.
Pearly guillotine.
It's a fig wasp.
When the harvest's clean.
It's a fig wasp.
It's a winged machine.
It's a fig wasp.
The US wants a foothold in the Middle East. If they are strong allies to Israel, Israel in turn can act as a base of operations as well as power projection for the US.
This can in future make it easier for the US (and harder for it's enemies) to influence politics in the area and extract resources.
The US isn't opposed to Palestine, it just doesn't care about it.
×{ Why Biden isn't acting }×
Biden isn't halting weapon shipments to Israel simply because he doesn't have to. So long as his powerbase - and the powerbase in the US at large - wants Israel as an ally. It would be stupid to go against what allows him power in the first place.
×{ Morals & supression }×
Morals in politics are at best a tool and at worst meaningless.
The only way morals could come into play here was if it could be stirred into a grassroots (or astroturfed) movement that a very large amount of voters got behind. A new faction could then form and gain power from that movement.
You've probably noticed that the possibility of that happening is actively supressed though:
• Encouraging a 2-party system makes it harder for new factions to be created.
• Being Pro-Palestine is actively discouraged by people in power (not just in politics, look at celebrities).
• Identity politics and Pro-Israel media making a grassroots movement harder to form.
You could argue a grassroots movement is forming amongst younger voters though bypassing newsmedia. But you'd still need politicians willing to risk using the movement. Not to mention the 2-party system is currently shutting it down either way since neither Trump nor Biden support the movement.
×{ Political Power }×
A politicians moves are dictated by what will let them keep or increase their power. Not by their morals or what they think is best for the country.
The easiest form of power to understand is money.
In a large company the CEO who holds all the money the company makes, uses that money to make decisions which impacts the company and subsequently shareholders returns. The CEO has power so long as the shareholders allow them to. If the CEO no longer gives adequate returns to the shareholders, they are replaced with someone who will.
In a company workers don't hold any power over the CEO. Therefore as a rule they receive no reward besides a salary.
In a dictatorship the dictator uses the countrys money to reward the generals, tax collectors, police (and more) below them. Effectively giving them their return for their work.
If the dictator doesn't give adequate rewards or if someone else offers to give more rewards. The dictator is replaced via a coup.
In a dictatorship the people don't hold any power. Therefore they receive no reward and live impoverished lives.
Biden uses his power to reward the people below him in accordance to the power the hold.
• He rewards his party by granting positions of power and passing laws they favor.
• He rewards political donors by giving out tax cuts, government contracts, or passing favorable laws.
• He rewards his voters by passing laws or choosing where to invest their tax money.
Keep in mind Biden follows the structure of power and doesn't give rewards to lower power-holders that conflict with higher power-holders.
For example Biden can reward companies with tax cuts even though it's against the interest of the voters. This is because the power of the company is more valuable, since the power of voters is difficult to use in opposition to that reward.
If Biden chose to reward the voters by raising the tax that the company had to pay. The power of the voters who would flip to vote for Biden would be less than the power the company holds. Therefore Biden would invite his opposition to reward the company giving the opposition power instead.
When Biden initiated his studen loan forgiveness program. It was not something he did out of the goodness of his heart.
He did it because it would give him voter power and wouldn't conflict with his other stronger powerbases.
×{ End }×
This started as a much shorter message but I ended up writing multiple praragraphs to explain why I believe Biden is doing what he is doing.
This is only my basic understanding of how power structures work. I have never studied political sciences and this should all be taken with a pinch of salt.
It's not too private at all. I often times find talking about it helps relieve some of that stigma.
To give a better understanding, the background to my anxiety and other issues come from bullying, a verbally abusive father, social isolation, and being transgender (male to female). All of this caused me chronic depression from a very early age. And a lot of issues in dealing with stress, anxiety, stigma & emotion.
When any if not all of those emotions become too much I have no healthy way of dealing with it. I can't sleep, constantly fidget, extreme negative emotions and thoughts, withdraw myself, & and become suicidal (assuming I have no relief for some time).
The way that self-harm comes into this is that it sort of... releases some of those issues. I'm not 100% sure of how it actually works. But when my self-harm was very active, often times the only way to sleep was to cut myself. I couldn't sleep while all those thoughts and emotions ceaselessly raced through my head.
Of course it wasn't just for sleep. When things became too much to bare I cut myself then too simply to relieve it.
One of the biggest problems with self-harm is how it easily and quickly escalates.
Just like how 1 cigarette a day won't be enough for a chain smoker, you build up a kind of tolerance. You cut more and cut deeper.
Warning graphic stuff!
In essence self-harm acted as a release valve for everything that was bottled up inside me, whatever it may be.
Sorry for the long post. I hope I was able to answer your question :)
It temporarily relieves the anxiety and emotion. The pain and shock from an injury supercedes the stress and emotion giving you temporary reprieve.
If you have a tooth ache and stub your toe. In that monent the tooth ache won't hurt as much because the brain cannot process both equally.
That sounds like a truly horrible experience to have happen. I'm glad to hear you're starting to recover, though that is often exhausting on its own.
I avoided alcohol for most of my life simply because I feared becoming addicted to it.
Now that I'm in a somewhat better place I've carefully joined in on social drinking. And I can definitely see how easily alcohol could become an addiction.
It can free your nerves and worries. Not to mention it is widely socially acceptable to drink, as compared to other drugs or behavior.
Hot water melting the ice of a windshield is such a good metaphor. It really gives an understanding of how easy it is to turn to the "easy" solution. Rather than spending 5 minutes scraping the ice off your windshield.
I would say self-harm is akin to restarting your car because it's making that weird noise again. It temporarily removes the noise but it never fixes the actual issue. So eventually the noise gets worse and you restart more and more until your car gives up and dies.
I'd agree but feel the need to highlight a difference between chemical addiction and addiction for the sake of escapism. Though both can absolutely be present at the same time.
I am neither a psychologist or neurologist, but have some experience.
I've largely dealt with addiction in the forms of self harm, as well as an addiction to sugar.
Self harm absolutely was about escapism. And the addiction was not chemical other than the brain creating a need for it in order to soothe negative thoughts and feelings (anxiety, trauma, stress, sadness etc...).
Sugar on the other hand was a mix of escapism and chemical addiction. When I felt worse I naturally craved more sugar. But even when I felt glad or elated I would still crave it.
I can't speak on addiction to drugs like heroin, opiates, cocaine, among others. But in my experience of addiction to self harm and sugar. Punishment would only end up deepening the addiction as I sought to escape the punishment through addiction as well.
Even if that punishment was self-inflicted.
I only know of an app that is currently under developement which turns walking into am old school rpg experience. Though I have no idea when it is to be released.
"Confusing children during pivotal construction of their identity."
Discovering and accepting your identity very much is what transitioning is. According to general society being born as a specific sex implies that identity. In everything from hobbies, clothing, friends. But what if you realise your identity does not align with what your sex implies? Even if it's something small like a 15-year old boy who likes knitting. That aspect of their identity goes against the implied or expected identity that is based on their physical sex. Is the boy confused because he likes knitting or because what he's been told what his identity should be doesn't mesh with who he is?
"Suicide causes for transgender teens is often reported as bullying or bigotry, but not often reported on the lack of support for dysphoria and other mental health conditions."
How are transgender teens supposed to get support for dysphoria if they are instead isolated? In my experience dysphoria isn't something you just talk to a therapist about and then it's cured. It's the horrible visceral feeling I got whenever I was forced to wear a dress shirt. What fixed that? Not wearing a dress shirt. The freedom to wear the clothes that make me comfortable.
"A lack of stability in life often leads to chaotic life altering decisions, sometimes self harm and death."
My life wasn't more stable before I knew what transgender meant and realised I didn't identify as a man when I was 19. It was filled with depression, self-isolation, and suicidal ideation. A slow but steady spiral into nothingness. It's not like dysphoria only exists if we know it exists. Realising I was trans was certainly chaotic. But the reason it was so chaotic was that the identity that had been built up for me was shattered. So now I had to find and rebuild my identity from scratch. What most people spend their time doing from 5-16 I had to do over because I didn't fit into the identity I was told to build.
I dealt with self-harm. Still struggle with it sometimes. I learned as a kid to bottle up my feelings. Be it regular sadness or stress, or dysphoria. So I began to use self-harm as a way to escape and cope with those feelings. When I could no longer bottle them up. Just like how people drink to drown their sorrows or do drugs to escape reality. I believe I never would have begun to self-harm if I had been able to build the identity I wanted from the start. If I was allowed to cry, or to express myself in ways that help me cope naturally.
Why is the inclusion of people - or teenagers in this case - that don't fit the pre-existing mould and expectations such a problem? The idea that not everyone automatically fits into pre-conceived notions of what a boy and a girl is, or likes, or does, or acts. Is that such a threat to school or society in general?
Yes we need more help for people with gender dysphoria. But that help isn't isolation from society. That help isn't stopping people from trying to figure out who they really are.