Marrj age!

Abortion is a good example. Somehow, I’m a “blue-haired screaming liberal cuck” for thinking a total abortion ban is an indefensible position, but I’m also a “fascist bigot” for believing there should be a point after which abortion requires a legitimate medical reason, backed by a doctor - or even two.

This should be a reminder to you then: this is not a problem with “the Left” if you get it from the conservatives as well. Why does this somehow push you further right if you have extremists on both ends treating you this way?

For one thing, I don’t think “many people in this minority are mean to me” is ever a good reason to turn against the entire group. To use the old comparison again, it’s not appropriate to say that you were bullied by black people, so therefore all black people should stay segregated. That excuse will never fly, and the same applies here.

Many trans people are angry at the way they are treated, and rightly so. While they may often lash out inappropriately, that doesn’t mean it’s right to dismiss all of them because of the angry ones.

As for those of us not part of the marginalized groups, most of us simply take a hard line stance on respecting people who can’t help the way they were born. Give people basic human respect for who they are, regardless of who you think they should be. If someone suggests that trans people are predators or perverts just because they want to be treated as the gender they feel, then yes, this person will be dismissed as a bigot.

As for Joe Rogan, he has come out on the wrong side of… Many scientific issues. He’s an idiot (and has admitted it occasionally), but he often forgets that, and takes strong positions that are go against the medical and scientific consensus. He’s not a doctor and he doesn’t have all the facts right about trans physiology, and he’s said some ignorant things in that regard. He is generally hated because he mixes up his ignorance with scientific analysis, whether it’s about trans issues, or about COVID, or anything else.

And I know some news articles have been happy to misrepresent some of the things he said, and that’s bad. Because the people who already don’t like him are more willing to believe out of context quotes. But he already says enough that is terrible at face value, and making things up doesn’t help anyone.

If you want to win elections, the party has to be something people want to vote for. Right now, the only thing the Democrats have going for them is that the other side is even more unhinged. Simply being “less bad” just isn’t enough anymore.

Now you are mixing some things up. “The Left” consists of a large group of people who are not Democrats. Most of the left didn’t particularly want Harris, they just understand the reality of the American two-party system. We are still critical of the Democrats because we want them to represent us more, but we support them because they are the most left viable group we have.

That said, the Democrats have a LOT more to the party and platform than “less bad than Republicans.” Historically, the Democratic administrations usually created a stronger economy for the middle and lower classes, while reducing the national deficit. They have made important strides for climate action. They continue to push for health care improvements. Harris’ campaign included specific issues and plans in her platform.

The trouble is that many people just ignore these things. A lot of Republicans just don’t believe that democratic policies often help them.

And the less politically involved people don’t even bother to read any of these things. They just see the news headlines about identity politics that are pushed by the media. These are the people who generally fall into the trap you are describing. But no amount of us bringing up the real political platform will ever be as memorable as the headlines saying that someone is mad at someone else about something.

You can say that’s not the goal of the right, but it’s still an active movement to that end. Personally I think it’s just a tool the right is using to gain support by spreading fear about an issue that isn’t fully understood. They directly spread propaganda suggesting that trans people are coming for your kids, when most trans people just want to live in the body they choose.

For example why is supporting gender-affirming surgery for any person a bad thing? In reality, nobody is pushing gender reassignment on people who don’t want it. Regardless of who they are, their decision to have surgery doesn’t harm you.

These are just people who have different emotional or psychological needs than you do, and even if you don’t relate to it, that’s okay for them to feel that way. Why shouldn’t it be supported? What harm are they doing to you by being trans and having gender-affirming treatment of any kind? From that perspective, it’s hard to see opposition as anything but being against who these people are as individuals. And that’s precisely what transphobia is: opposing it for no reason other than that it’s different from what you know.

We should fully support people being or doing what they want, until it becomes a danger for others. And we have seen that anti-trans attitudes have led to trans people being harmed or sometimes killed just because they are trans.

The trouble with being “fed up with identity politics” as you put it in a comment, is that there’s a whole group demonizing a portion of the population, and trying to erase that whole concept. It would be like during the civil rights movement saying that you are tired of all the racial politics, and expecting black people to just be satisfied with sitting in the back of the bus. It’s ignoring the very real discrimination against a marginalized group.

I’m fed up with identity politics too, but it’s more in the way that I’m sick of all the fear being spread about people. Since there’s an active movement to suppress or even erase trans people, the right thing to do is actively oppose that movement, not just ignore it because I’m not a part of that group.

Essentially, a fight has already been started. By not taking sides, you are implicitly taking a position of not caring if this group is erased. And that is why this attitude is simplified down to “fuck gay and trans people”

I consider myself a true independent. I’ve never been in the Democrat party. I just think people deserve to be treated like people, not demonized simply because they live a different way. And I’m willing to stand up for that most basic of decency towards people.

Last I heard it was the hamburger menu.

They need to stop naming things that have no meaningful difference

King Shark is a shark

Damn! We’re in a tight spot.

It upsets me, how many people spell his name wrong.

But Mister Rogers would let it go.

It’s the only photo I’ve ever seen of him

He of course looks like Calvin’s dad

Well he’s 6.

Don’t worry about the fish

Worry about the cheese and sausage

Are they talking about me?

I’ve said before, but part of my biggest gripe with Lemmy is the process of curating a decent feed. A lot of new users will see the mess of posts in All, including political extremists, an ever growing list of fetish porn communities, and bottom of the barrel shitposts, and they won’t be interested in spending a couple hours blocking and subscribing to things before the feed is usable.

One way to address this is to give instance admins better tools to curate a default subscriptions and block list for their users. Allow admins to create what they think is the most accessible feed, but also allow users to customize it as they see fit.

You’re all talking about the Crocs, but nobody is mentioning the mayor’s footie pants

What?

Isn’t it too late for it to matter? At this point, she’s on the ballots that she’s on, isn’t she?

Especially for states like Oregon that are primarily vote by mail. I already have my ballot, and Stein withdrawing won’t keep people from voting for her

Which one?

DS9 is a difficult one because I can’t think of a real episode that would fit, but maybe Hard Time just because of the horrific situation O’Brien is put in?

Empok Nor in season 5 is a good candidate, it has some horror vibes.

I don’t think I can agree with calling Spock the “big city” boyfriend when space is described verbatim as “the final frontier.”

Plus in the Hallmark movies/romcoms, the protagonist (T’Pring) isn’t usually depicted as a cunning strategist, intending to screw over her betrothed.