new

This is how it’s done.

Proclaim something to be true that is patently not. Do not mock those who disagree. Not yet. Instead, ask them, with sadness in your eyes, why you cannot just be generous and kind.

If they resist, shame them.

Most people will roll their eyes and move on. At first.

But after repeated exposure to the thing-that-is-proclaimed-to-be-true-that-patently-is-not, some will begin to question their understanding of reality. Now you make your next move.

Most people have an inadequate knowledge of biology (and other manifestations of reality), and know this. When pushed to the limits of what they are sure of, they may entrench (“er, no, men and women are different…?”) or they may cede small points.

Ceding small points is met with appreciation, & a request: Can’t you go just a little farther? Now that you have declared yourself a believer in X, surely you can also see that Y? This can be more effective than brute force attempts to change thinking.

Disinformation campaigns use many tactics. Words, gently offered, are a pleasant start. “Educate” yourself! They will move to shame, gaslighting, smearing reputations, outright lies, threats of violence, only if you resist. Best not to resist. You’re doing this to yourself!

Proclaim that men can get pregnant and give birth, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Trot out ludicrous examples as if they comprise an argument. Compel some under-smart but over-educated PhDs in biology to back you up, and proceed to argue from authority.

Here is one of many threads that I have written on sex and gender. Do not “trust” it based on the fact that I have a PhD in Biology. Read it with a critical eye. Assess it. Also read @fondofbeetles, @swipewright, so many more.

Proclaim that biologically accurate statements that include respect & compassion for trans people are transphobic, & that the author of such statements deserves any abuse that comes her way. Pretend that this is showing love & support for trans people.

Proclaim that trans people suffer greater abuse and violence than any other demographic. Proclaim this while advocating for natal males to engage in “sport” against women, some of whom take pleasure in hurting women.

Proclaim that the only way to show that “black lives matter” is to sign on with #BlackLivesMatter, which advocates for defunding the police, “disrupting the…nuclear family structure,” etc, which have nothing to do with black lives mattering.

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” reminds us that genuflecting before false gods is a road to hell. You may think that you are signing up for social justice, an end to oppression, a veritable utopia, but no. They will come for you, too.

Cede small points, and they will expect you to cede more. Apologize for things you did not do, and you will be held accountable for those things, and more.

Do not accept the horse at the gates.

More needs to be said about the self-identity of western progressives. I would maintain that the defense of this identity (and its virtue) explains most of the insanity coming from the left today.

I notice two tricks, in particular, being used by leftists here.

First trick, linguistic, is the creation of loose words for their own political radicalism. These words are used to organize and galvanize when new, when discredited however they disappear and seem to apply to no one. We can see this in labels like “AntiFa” which the left has defended for years but now seems to be a figment of our collective imaginations. It also applies to general terms (“SJW” and “woke”). Who coined these? The left. But to hear their account they are right wing smears. This is process is complemented by the second trick, historical, that defines “progressive”, as by its essential nature, to be good, honest, and always winning. As such their history curves around counter examples and a self flattering triumphalist narrative is constructed. Whereas real identities (religion, ethnicity, and nation) refer to real things and therefore have real messy records of good and bad actions, the progressive identity need not worry itself with such troubling nuance. Any evil doer who called themselves a “leftist” or “progressive” in the past is vetoed from their history by definition. The inquisition & crusades will forever be part of “Catholic history”, but Eugenics and the Gulags are not and never will be part of “progressive” history. Progressivism is of course a religion. But these deceptive tactics give it the ability to do things we don’t usually allow. The first is the construction of impossible to meet historical moral standards. Since the left can never be held to account this is a fun excercise.

The second is an ability to shift standards in order to maintain its dual illusions (“always right and always wing”). For this reason neither the progressive moralist nor prophet ever need to doubt their work. But also as a consequence, the ideology itself is mercurial. Many have said that progressives see “progress as God” (e.g. it cannot fail it can only be failed) but the problem is deeper. The “God” the progressives worship has no nature, it is shifting, and ephemeral. There is no there there. Progressives have created for themselves and identity that always wins and that is always good, but the price they pay is that this identity is entirely EMPTY. It has nothing in it.

As such the progressive is the culmination the ne plus ultra of the rootless and stale modern condition, as sad as that is.

Can we not all strive something more authentic in our own identities?

Fin