iNow

I'm totally fine with this. Why aren't others is, I believe, the actual question under discussion.

You appear to be arguing against an pretty obvious strawman here. I'll chalk it up to lack of valid comprehension, not intentional malice. Precisely. Why can't the trans community have that same decision making authority for pronouns applied to them?

What am I dodging, exactly? What specifically are you dismissing outright as ridiculous?

I think you need to be a bit more PC by recognizing that you're not the sole arbiter of what is "ridiculous." Opinions are like buttholes... we've all got one and most of them stink. And when he corrects me, I'll respect that this is THEIR choice to make, not mine.

When it comes to biology, strong desires to do things often aren't sufficient, and you likely have to accept that. YOU: Hi everyone! I want your honest opinions. US: Okay, this is what I think. YOU: No, that's not the opinion I want!!

“My friend MigL went to the store today. While there, THEY bought food and supplies. I told THEM it would’ve been better to wait until next week when the sale began.” I’m just not seeing why this is a problem for so very many people (well actually, I kinda am… but am trying to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope I’m simply mistaken).

Perhaps you are. Perhaps you aren’t. I have no idea, and I truly don’t care… but No. That is not what I’m saying. I’m saying psychological therapy is more likely to lead you to a better more sustainable outcome than this (frankly ludicrous and ignorant) idea of yours that you can change all your genes from XY to XX and start menstruating and have a baby. ‘It’s so ridiculous, in fact, that I consider you to be trolling and will feed you no longer.

Excellent post. I'd just quibble with this slight bit: Technically, he can still also discriminate against individuals in this way. He can still treat them differently. He cannot, however, avoid consequences when he does (whether those be personal, social, financial, vocational, or otherwise). He's being neither silenced nor muzzled. He's being held accountable for his words and actions and whining about it like a snowflake. For whatever reason, that snowflake whining and victim politics are incredibly attractive to the right these days... and in that I join you in your tiny violin playing without hesitation.

My thoughts? The therapy you need is psychological, not genetic.

Maybe they find it intrinsically interesting. Maybe they find the task to be pleasant. You make far too many specious assumptions in your premises with these scores of threads of yours.

Watch your pronouns

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Adding to those excellent points, the memories are also slightly rewritten every time we recall them. Paradoxically we remember them less accurately each time we think about them for the reasons Charon cited.

Okay, boomer Too heated and nuanced to discuss here, IMO. New thread please if there's a desire to further explore.

This is a point I would have made, too. Without infrastructure and availability of mass transit, the criticism above forgets the limitations of movement the US faces which aren't as commonly faced across Europe and Asia. One could also argue that citizens should congregate in urban areas that DO have public transportation options, but that's not always feasible for reasons beyond our control. Adding to this point, our minivan is MORE efficient than other vehicle. We're getting nearly 40mpg in that >6,000 pound best. Thanks, Toyota! 😎

I appreciate the sentient, but your words leave me wondering where accountability, personal responsibility, and progress fall in all of this. “Stop being so sensitive. All I did was refer to her as sugar-tits. She’s got a great bosom… it’s a compliment!” ”Stop being so sensitive. All I did was call him a commie. It’s a joke… live a little.” ”Stop being so sensitive. All I did was call him a kraut. He is from Germany, after all.” ”Stop being so sensitive. All I did was call that blackie a nigger. It’s just a word… sticks and stones and whatnot.” What is deemed acceptable to a civilized society rightly evolves with time. We must each ask ourselves if our own ambiguous connection to words from history is somehow more worthy or important than the very real connection others have with cultural acceptance and belonging. After all… Perhaps the world would be a better place for all of us if more people were just a little bit more sensitive. Food for thought.

That power comes in organizing, ergo energy should IMO be focused more on organizing and less on living in micro homes the size of garden sheds.

Which one(s)?

I'm aware, but even if it's a million times that, it's still a marginal impact at best.

Recently, yes. Yes, and I'm sure that the owners of all 12 of them surely feel good about the decision they've made. The central point, however, is that this type of thing doesn't scale... doesn't even get out of the noise in the margins of the data... and this particular issue is one that requires us to be taking actions at scale.

I'm reminded of this

Sure, I can stop peeing in the ocean and avoid letting my juice box float into it, but if our goal is to protect the oceans and keep them healthy and clean, then our energies would be much better directed elsewhere, IMHO.

Have you tried the insides of ones colon, because that's from where ideas like these are generally pulled.

The pressure she’s applying is not IMO the result of a note to a pen pal.

We can all take steps to reduce our personal footprints, but the need here is really for more systemic changes that can be implemented at scale and apply to everyone, even those who are unwilling to make changes voluntarily. While your goal is laudable, my concern is that your letter to the UN will have no impact and go unread by anyone in a position to actually influence the changes we’re discussing.