Emerald

Right wingers shove trans issues in people's faces all the time. It's all they focus on. But Democrats scarcely mention trans people... yet still get accused of shoving trans issues in people's faces. That's not something we can control. That's going to happen no matter what. And the only way to fight against that is to reframe it as a general policy of accepting people and being anti-authoritarian... and saying "We're not obsessed with trans people like right wingers are. We just life and let live and focus all of our attention on bread and butter issues." You're not going to get anywhere with a "Don't worry. We normal and hate the transes too."

The anti-DEI stuff and anti-trans stuff is just two flavors of the same thing. It's important not to make these divisions because it just divides the left-wing base... just like Leo's doing with his nitpicks about wokeness. United we stand... divided we fall. And all of these narratives of distancing from wokeness, DEI, and trans rights are just working class dividers to keep us weak.

If you had to be a left-wing Tucker Carlson to save the people you care about from suffering and ruin, would you? I don't think you'd be selfless enough to do that. You're too attached to your identity of goodness to be effective in that way. And you'd allow all of the people in the world to suffer and die in concentration camp before you budge from your pedestal of convenient self-serving ethics.

Again... it's you who is sniffing out the things that most people would find odd. And it is I who is actually thinking wisely about how to reframe it to minimize the damage you're doing. I wish the right wingers were as politically unsavvy as you're being... as it would move a lot more people to the left. Imagine if Tucker Carlson spent the majority of his rhetorical power trying to distance himself from the right wingers who want to take away women's right to vote to ensure that he doesn't come across as extreme. He would weaken himself considerably.... and he would divide his party. Instead, he pretends this more extreme views don't exist in any serious way and frames his arguments as normal... and he inches people more and more towards his viewpoint. And he even serves as a pipeline to more extreme views like "women shouldn't have the right to vote" Get a bit more savvy!

As someone who grew up in a conservative redneck town, I can tell you that that's just not true. Mind your own business is a sentiment that's very popular in the hearts and minds of the majority of the American people. And polling even shows that most people are indifferent to trans people and really don't care. It's only about 25%-30% of people who have a trans hate boner... and a great deal of that is because they're fed a steady diet of right wing propaganda that claims that trans people are trying to trans your kids. And the reality is the right wingers focus on trans issues WAY more than left wingers do. You can see this by the sheer volume of anti-trans bills and laws that are penned and passed. So, you can frame it as "Right wing politicians have no serious solutions that help people and are just looking to cut taxes on the wealthy and gut social security, while obsessing about trans people all the time to scare a certain vocal component of their base." (which is actually true) And left wingers don't get hung up on people's personal choices because we're pro-freedom and mind our own business, and we focus on an actual economic populist vision that puts food on the table.

And the right wing propaganda writes itself in the mouths of economic leftists who go out of their way to make the right wing's anti-social-freedom case for them. The way to respond to these criticisms is, who tf cares if tampons are required to be stocked in public restrooms? It's not causing any harm, and it's better to have those resources available than to not.

There's nothing unrealistic about my framing suggestion... as it was already normalized and mainstreamed until the right wing propaganda machine took root on the internet and de-normalized my framing. My framing is just accept that there are people who are different from you in the world and mind your own business. And it's a bit neurotic and obsessive if you care so much what trans people are doing.

Are you claiming that the leftist party lost because of some random bathroom-related policy? What are they doing in those Canadian bathrooms?!?!?!

Whatever is happening in Canadian restrooms must not be weird enough to scare people off. The liberal party candidate won.

Recall... policy is codified law... not niche ideas posed by random people on the internet. Name a Democrat and/or progressive mainstream politician who has done anything remotely similar to what you're claiming. You will find no such instances. Now, look and see how much they still get tarred and feathered with the "goofy woke" label because well-meaning people fall for and proliferate false narratives like "Republicans are the serious ones who focus on the economy... while Democrats only focus on goofy things like getting funding for sex reassignment surgery for toddlers." It's all lies and exaggerations of course. But you can always find random people on the internet with ungrounded ideas and show them as an example. So, people fall for it. And when you assert that it's true that Tim Walz was focused on putting tampons in boy's bathrooms (when it was a total right wing contrivance), you just fed the beast of your own political side's demise.

In terms of abortion rights, my argument is purely a bodily sovereignty argument. I don't believe the government should control what you do with your own body, even if another body happens to exist within it. I see people as the sole sovereign governors of their own body. And as long as the fetus is before viability (at 22 weeks), you should be allowed to abort because the baby requires your body to exist... and you are in control of your body. Once the fetus is beyond 22 weeks when the baby can survive outside of the womb, you should be allowed to induce delivery and put the baby up for adoption. Now, the vast majority of abortions happen in the first 6-8 weeks. And late term abortions tend to be for serious medical reasons that threaten the mother or baby's life... or both. It would be exceedingly rare for a woman to take the pregnancy to 22 weeks and beyond and decide she wanted to end it voluntarily. But even beyond this bodily sovereignty argument, the reality is that when restrictive abortion laws are on the books... more women die because doctors fear being prosecuted for performing a life-saving abortion in the case of serious pregnancy complications. No woman is safe to get pregnant in a state with strict abortion laws. My advice to women who want to have children is to try to relocate to a state with more lenient laws around abortion, just in case there's a life-threatening emergency.

And the only way to solve this is by seizing the power of normalization and saying "Yes, we're the normal moderate people who mind our own business and focus on real economic issues, instead of obsessively hating on trans people. You cannot avoid being stereotyped as someone who accepts trans people on the left. You will not outrun that stereotype, nor should you try to. You'll have to come to a point of acceptance that trans acceptance and the embrace of social freedoms is just part of the left wing movement. You can either run away from the accusation that you're pro-trans and cede to the right wing framing that accepting trans people is weird. Or you can own it and make it clear that the weird thing is being a busy-body and obsessing about trans people.

It's always the same pattern of women, ethnic/racial/religious minorities, people who don't conform to gender norms, and culture heretics in general existing or asking for basic rights... and then people obsessively hating on them for existing and wanting basic rights. But the 20-25% of people who feel that way need a way to get normies on board with their hate. And they use narratives like "God, this is a culture war that divides us all." or "Did you know that teachers are putting litter boxes in middle school classrooms for kids who identify as furries?" or "Did you know that Tim Walz' put tampons in the boys bathroom because of the goofy trans stuff?" But it's the same stuff that's always been. It's just that trans people are last hired, first fired. So, trans folks are usually the first targeted in these anti-freedom authoritarian hate movements. But if trans hate is normalized... it will go back to the attempt to normalize gay hate in the eyes of normies and mainstream society and to get rid of their rights. And if gay hate is normalized... it will go back to the attempt to normalize immigrant hate in the eyes of normies and mainstream society and to get rid of their rights. And if immigrant hate is normalized... it will go back to the attempt to normalize racial hate in the eyes of normies and mainstream society and to get rid of their rights. And if racial hate is normalized... it will go back to the attempt to normalize woman hate in the eyes of normies and mainstream society and to get rid of their rights. And if all that is normalized... anyone with a heretical viewpoint will be targeted and silenced. Don't' fall for it... and don't normalize it, as it's only a matter of time before you're on the same chopping block for possessing a heretical viewpoint.

It's just the reality of it. The culture war is and has always been about an ideological opposition to the existence of certain people. So, there's just gay and trans people just existing. And then a bunch of obsessive busy-bodies get pressed and neurotic about that fact and want to stop them from existing (or at the very least to stop existing in their vicinity). It's the same thing as it used to be with black people in the 60s and before. Black people were just existing. And then a bunch of obsessive busy-bodies got pressed and neurotic about that fact and wanted black people to stop existing (or at the very least to stop existing in their vicinity). But when black people wanted equality... instead of calling it a "culture war", we aptly named it "The Civil Rights Movement." And it's a good thing too, or black civil rights would have been framed as a 'frivolous goofy culture war that leftists have to leave behind if their economic movement is going to succeed.' It's the same situation now. The only difference is that the groups targeted are different. (thought we can always lose the ground we've gained if we keep ceding to the right on social issues) And being neurotic about the existence of people who are different from you should not be mainstreamed or viewed as normal in the eyes of the Overton Window. Here's ye olde "culture war"...

There is no such thing as the culture war, as the culture war is just a right wing narrative used to invalidate people they don't like. The reality is that there are people with differences who happen to exist... and neurotic people taking issue with the fact that people exist that they would prefer not to exist.

It isn't my point that there aren't any insane leftists. There are crazies from all walks of life. My point is that you keep adding more fuel to the right wing fire by conceding to their framing and spreading their anti-woke lies and propaganda for them... and you keep framing YOUR OWN SIDE as goofy and reinforcing lies that right wingers have used to smear middle of the road Democrats. And all it does is divide the left and weaken your own cause... while you believe that you're strengthening it by trying to get the extremist stench off of you. But in so doing, you are reaffirming to the world that there is a stench and that what you support isn't normal... but that right wing authoritarian control over people's personal choices and obsession with trans people is normal. How many times have I heard, "If only Kamala didn't do identity politics and focus on trans issues, she would have won." But she very deliberately didn't do that. It's just that anyone left of the far right is going to get hit with lies and propaganda that paint them out as unserious out of touch wokies. And lefties will keep getting tarred and feathered that way until they actually own their pro-freedom and pro-acceptance position and full-throatedly normalize it in the way that the average person can understand. The only acceptable position is, "I accept people and mind my own business because I'm not a weird neurotic busy-body who's obsessed with trans people and what's in their pants." If you try to cower away from the accusations of being "goofy woke lefties", the right wing is going to continue to win the propaganda war... and middle of the road Democrats will continue to be labeled as goofy woke lefties who only care about whether or not trans people get to compete in sports (when they haven't even said dick about it.) And this issue is that you believe this is a winning strategy, believing that you're strengthening the leftist economic message by running away from these pro-freedom and pro-acceptance stances relative to people's personal choices. But the reality is that the left is associated with social freedoms and acceptance of diversity. And there is no chance of getting away from it... as we are the pro-freedom party. And we don't get hung up about weird psycho-sexual obsessions like the right wing does. So, I hope that I'm making myself clear that you are buying into made-up anti-woke narratives that the right wing used to smear Kamala and Tim Walz... and that it's the proliferation of this kind of narrative that weakens our movement. Own it... we're pro-freedom and pro-acceptance... and we mind our own business. And anyone who isn't, is obsessive and weird about things that are none of their business.

Which sounds goofier to you... - People should mind their own business and accept people's differences. OR - The trans people are coming to trans your kids and sneaking into women's bathrooms! Trans people are a sign of the decline of Western Civilization!!!!! It all depends on how you're framing it. And so far, there's a lot of guys in this comment section (including Leo) who keep conceding to the right wing framing that poses basic social freedoms as goofy. And you guys keep stating that Democrats are too focused on trans issues... when they very much are not. But it doesn't matter how much Kamala Harris or Joe Biden didn't talk about trans people, they keep getting tarred and feathered as unserious people who are trying to put litterboxes in classroom. And you can't win by distancing yourself from trans people, because it just concedes to the right wing framing on the issue. Instead, you have to be the adult in the room and be like "Yes, we accept people who are different from us. And we mind our business. AND we respect people's personal freedoms to do whatever they feel is right as long as it doesn't harm others... unlike the other side that wants to control you."

But the point is that NO ONE is putting tampon dispensers in men's bathrooms. That was a lie that the right wing created to smear Tim Walz. And now, you're doing their propagandizing for them like a fool! Stop conceding to right wing talking points and framing! Instead, stick with a common sense approach and be like "Stop being obsessed with trans people. Just let people live their lives."

Thank you for recommending my videos!

Of course if you frame it as "Our policy position is drag shows for kids." people aren't going to moved towards supporting politicians who run on that platform... nor is any politician actually doing so. That's just another right wing talking point that's like "Kamala and Joe Biden support drag shows for kids." and you're proliferating it and doing their propaganda job for them. So, that's not what I'm talking about or disagreeing with. I'm disagreeing with you conceding to the rightwing framing with regards to social issues and framing those as "woke goofy stuff", when it's actually about asserting the values of freedom and acceptance... and a rejection of authoritarian control over social issues and personal choices. All that does is weaken the left and strengthen the right when you cede this ground to them and put an arbitrary dividing line between protecting social freedoms and economic populism... because you can't really have one without the other. It's like Neo-Nazi women who complain about misogyny in right wing spaces. Don't expect gender equality in your ethnostate, lady! Similarly, don't expect normalized transphobia in your anti-corruption Social Democracy movement of the people.

The way to have political influence is to be able to create and put out simple narratives and visions that people can understand and get on board with... and to assert your paradigm onto the world in a way that dovetails off of how people already think. And nothing needs to be nefarious or untrue about the narratives. They just need to be simple and give people a sense that they belong within that story and that that story is leading them to deeper levels of connection and movement towards a vision. Right wingers understand power a lot more than left wingers do. And they have a very well-funded apparatus for influencing people. So, they tend to be better at these things and less ideologically opposed to them. But the only way to avoid ceding power to the right and adding to their propaganda is to avoid conceding to their ideological framing... and to assert the normalcy of our own frame.

That mindset is just a way of submitting to the right wing and losing by default before you've actually lost. First off, you're not trying to get dyed in the wool conservatives who strongly hold onto some principled traditional values. That's a minority group anyway. You're trying to get the majority of people who are deeply influenceable and are changing their views based off of what is considered normal and moderate in the eyes of society. And if you go conceding that being anti-trans is the normal thing, those "moderate" people will moderate themselves right into the clutches of the far right. Remember that the Nazis were moderate and "normal" for their era and location... as whatever is normalized will be considered normal. Plus, the tides are always shifting... and the time is ripe for people to start getting increasingly agitated at the right wing status quo, especially with the upcoming economic recession that's about to happen. People are on the look out for the "other side" of the binary to propose something very different and better than what is now.

This again, negates the power that we have to work together to impose a political narrative and paradigm... including what the political camps actually are and how we understand them. We get too locked into working with and around what is and making concessions where we shouldn't be making concessions... that we forget that we also have influence to assume the dominant frame and redefine the whole game. Have you not seen the right wing do just that over the past 10 years?

When you have a very sophisticated and well-funded propaganda machine at your disposal, you can change people's views very quickly.

It all depends on how your frame things. If you frame things as woke socialist crap, they'll run away. And the more you call the lefty position woke socialist crap, the more you scare people away and they go to the right (who you've already foolishly conceded are more normal for being anti-woke and ceded power to). But if you frame it as freedom, the Golden Rule, and mind your own business... and let's work together for a more economically fair system, they'll eat it up. The same thing is true that people will run away if you come right out the gate wearing Swastika armbands. But if you drip feed people false but believable ideas like "more immigration equals more crime" then you can get the normies on board. And in a few short years, they'll be goose-stepping with the worst of 'em.