Feelings over facts

[GreenGloves]

I was listening to a podcast about Brexit and they were discussing the Trump and Brexit campaigns and how both used feelings over facts in places. And it struck me that the trans agenda is the same: feelings over facts. The "woke" hate Trump and his supporters and see themselves as superior, yet have been sucked in by exactly the same tactics, it would appear to me.

That may be so obvious to lots of you, apologies I just had an "ah!" moment when listening.

Yep.

Silencing, smearing, hounding, harassing, DARVO.

It is exhausting.

No you're right, and the galling thing is that ever since then they have carried on using the argument that they use logic for decision making.

I've had discussions with Trump supporters who say that he has several policies they agree with so he was the best choice. But when I say 'can you explain 3 of them?' no they can't.
None of them have been able to name any of the executive orders he has passed either.
They've described the wall as a 'strategy to deal with Mexico' ()
None of them have wanted to comment on the anti abortion moves, or why people should die on the street for lack of insulin, or be bankrupted by medical bills.
They can't explain why transgender people should be barred from serving in the military; but not from womens toilets or prisons.
Most of them didn't even know he has removed all protection from national parks and monuments.

Sorry, rant over.

When you start seeing this as an ideological problem, and try to disregard the high emotions running on each side, then it makes more sense.
The essential problem with trans theory (in our current form) is that it has become unmoored from the biological reality of sex, it doesn't even rely on gender dysphoria or transitioning anymore. There is a push for internal and potentially fluid feelings of identity, of which there might be an infinite number, to somehow achieve the same status legally as physical bodies simply by self-declaration. And any questioning should be counted as a potential act of hate.
We all need to accept that every person has to have a way of structuring the world - an ideology. This is why we need common sense - it's about how we can still find middle ground and talk to each other.

"Trump and Brexit campaigns and how both used feelings over facts in places. And it struck me that the trans agenda is the same"

Said this elsewhere before. They use the exact same tactics. Feelings over facts. Outright lies. Do one thing then accuse the other side of it. Victimization.

Yup. Same parallels with MRAs, Gamergate, now TRAs. Except that US folks who saw straight through Gamergate can't see the exact same tactics being used now with TRAs here in the UK and Canada; its like a blind spot (a wokeness hangover, if you will).

Look further into the tactics used for Trump and Brexit and you'll see test cases in other parts of the world a few years older, and ongoing pushes now, e.g. against the Roma in Italy.

That has been the tribalism/nationalism/white supremacy political strategy for time out of mind. They do it because it works.

It reminds me a bit of a training course I went on. The trainer was a man doing lots of Derren Brown mind control stuff with films and lecturing. Everyone thought he was incredible, a brilliant trainer.

Yet not one could remember a single thing he’d said...

Politicians across the board have the habit of getting the onion out and shoring up a weak argument with emotion.

First example I can think of is Stella Creasy but there are many, many more.

It is a valid observation and it’s the root of several current social sicknesses:

The media has gone from fact checked newspaper and radio/TV to 24 hour instant news. The level of content checking has gone through the floor and it’s been replaced by this ideacthat everyone’s opinion is just as valid as everyone else’s.

Then add in the internet allowing anyone to express said opinions and connect with others who agree, thus reinforcing their opinion they’re right.

Then the push for identity politics, which is going to result in 9 billion separate tribes all competing for massive victim status rather than entire nations working together - oh and add in further things that break social cohesion - the media whipping up boomers vs millenials/migrants vs everyone else, rich vs poor, etc.

And then ta daaa! Each man for themselves, everyone nicely arranged on a victim ladder and everyone dehumanised. You can now ‘other’ people at will, because they’re less than you and you don’t need any pesky facts or expertise.

BoBF

That's really very well put, and is also an illustration of why outsiders like me favour the GC side over the TRA side in the current debate - you're trying to work out a fair solution for society as a whole whereas they're just trying to win for their tribe (not that I can particularly blame them for doing so when that's the way the game's been played for the last few years).

And I do think that there is a lot of manipulation of this by people who are out to profit financially from this.

Lots of TRAs are self-appointed experts, motivational speakers, trainers, consultants, journalists. People who would be unlikely to get a job in the traditional way (and I suspect that at least some of them have a criminal past that they don't want getting out so conventional employment is out of the window for them).

So they have to keep whipping up the transphobia narrative - their livelihoods depend on it.

Do I think someone like the person in the news this week even considers themselves to be trans? No, they are just exploiting an opportunity for a bit of fame and a bit of cash.

So yes some people do have the feelings, but there are a lot of people taking advantage of this new market. It is like a gold rush, everyone trying to grab a bit for themselves. And lots of people getting trampled in the process.

I hadn’t come across Gamergate before it was mentioned upthread and have just looked it up. Wow. It’s basically the same thing as transactivism, isn’t it, except this time the MRAs have the assistance of those useful idiots known as liberal feminists.