Setting the Record Straight

I really have had a long thought process concerning this blog post. How far back do I want to go? I've said and done a lot of really stupid shit but I've grown a lot as a person since the idiotic days of childhood and early adulthood. I scarcely think I'm finished saying and doing stupid things. I have a tendency to say things for comedic effect only to have them perceived as a serious assertion. Sometimes I just made the wrong decision. I've hurt a lot of people.

One thing I will say is that if you know me, just realize that I'm mentally ill. I've had psychotic episodes so if you want to confront me you have every right to. Just know that I'm not ashamed anymore. I've changed, and I'm officially moving on and leaving it behind. As much as you deserve to call me out I deserve to be able to grow and let the past be the past. It's all gone. The dust of yesterday may still linger in the breeze but it is just that. It is dust. It is what once was. I present the following arguments and close these chapters of my life and I'm moving forward.

Matters of Race:

Throughout my life I've been very insensitive about this topic. I thought at one point as a young adult that I was more enlightened and I deserved to be able to say racist things ironically and it was somehow still ok because I was a proud member of the progressive team. This was stupid and it was wrong of me. The bottom line is that there are a lot of people treated unfairly because of their race. I'm not going to go into detail about all of the nuances of race relations. I'm just putting it out there that I was a jerk. I've made stupid jokes, and I've turned down relationships as a young adult all because of the pressures put on me by those close to me. I'm not going to blame anyone or call anyone out. I ultimately made the choice to say and do the things I said and did.

I think the main problem is when people make assumptions. People naturally form impressions of entire groups of people. This is true, but what matters is what you ultimately do with those impressions. How you treat people needs to be fair. Don't let your impressions rule you. Evaluate each individual and treat them how you want to be treated. Impressions go both ways by the way. If you don't want people to make bad assumptions about white people that you think are unfair then it starts with you. Don't assume something about someone because of their appearance. That is ultimately stupid and I'm not going to argue the point.

Matters of Gender:

Recently I've been very critical of the trans community. I've had articles published in conservative newspapers. I'd like to issue a retraction of sorts. I think compelling speech by means of speech codes and laws governing hate speech is ridiculous. I think ultimately the best censorship is no censorship at all. I know first-hand that one can seriously damage their reputation by saying insensitive things. Sometimes we say things out of ignorance, and when we do we deserve to be educated. This is a complex matter and I think that ultimately it is up to the individual to put their ego aside so that they can learn and grow. If they fail to do this then people's impression of them shifts toward the negative. This disrupts their social capital. While it is true that sometimes this is done too heavy handedly, I think that the people cancelling or shaming people have the best of intentions. I think we have a lot to learn as a global society. I don't think that completely ruining someone's life over a moment of ignorance is the correct way to address the problem. I think the best thing you can do is state your truth in the face of the other party's ignorance and let the strength of your ideals illustrate why their actions are ignorant. I believe that the good ideas that make sense are the ones that will rise to the top. We live in a gigantic social hierarchy. While we all get our morals from different places I believe that there is something common in all of us that resonates with us across cultures and borders.

That being said, I have unfairly characterized entire groups of people. If you want to live your life as the opposite sex then do it. It's all a social construct right? Well living differently is simply living within a different construct. I feel like this socially algebraically evens itself out. Unfair characterizations of gender go both ways. There's a degree of misandry and misogyny that comes with expressing your gender. There's stereotypical portrayals. It's all performative. And it's all being performed by you trying to act out what you feel inside you. I feel like this is healthy but as I said, if you're being ignorant you deserve to be educated. I feel that people deserve to be respected if they act in a respectful manner. If you're a truly good person then you deserve to be treated with respect. If you're malignant and rude then you do not deserve the respect you demand.

This brings me to my next point. There is a lot of heavy handedness from both sides. On the one hand you have the gender puritans that cling fiercely to biological essentialism. On the other hand you have people that are way too radical when it comes to their approach to seeking social justice. I know the term social justice is thrown around a lot but here's what I have to say about all of this: When it comes to progress what we really need to do is be able to be happy with what we have. We can make the future better for our young people. We can also make it a lot worse. We need to give each other what we need within reason. There are a lot of strong opinions on this front. I think all that needs to happen is for people to have honest, respectful conversations with those they care about as they navigate through their lives. I don't think this means surgical transitions for the extremely young. I think this means talking to them about the realities of where their feelings could lead them. Being supportive is a good step, but I don't think pushing them towards something they don't completely understand yet is the answer. I think that making them feel comfortable enough to trust you with the difficult conversations they need to learn is the best way to approach it. Don't preach, just teach. I know that there's not much of a distinction there, but you have to let people come to their own conclusions. There's a lot of pain and suffering and regret out there. I'd like to prevent both intolerant abuse and curb as much regret as possible. I simply want everyone to be able to live in a way that makes them happy.

Conclusion: This is what I want to say. I'm butting out of politics in an open setting because I think that politics is best left to those who want to solve problems. There are too many people worried about controlling the actions of others based on their personal moral compass. It's honorable to hold deep beliefs and desire the propagation of your principles. As I've said countless times the collective humanity of us all, the empathy that is engrained in all of us is what will ultimately decide what should be. Just please be calm and love each other no matter how abhorrent you might initially perceive someone. This can be the most difficult thing in the world sometimes because people are capable of doing some very disgusting and torturous things to others. We have a system of laws and values governed by the Darwinian struggle of the moral arguments we've developed over countless centuries. I think we all know the right thing to do when it comes down to it. It's just a matter of making sure that our systems of governance are flexible enough to evolve with us. Inflexibility of government happens because the system strives to correct the bad and reward the good. Preserving the authority is an essential part of a healthy government but the flexibility of leadership should empower people to make their own decisions and make disciplined and appropriate calls of their own.

I believe we are all deserving of redemption from our failings. If we weren't capable of moving on and learning then we never would have survived to this point in the first place. There just so much tribalistic bickering between different philosophies. It's all very tiring to try to sift through it all and figure out what you believe with so many people trying their hardest to persuade you. What I have to say is that I've found my way. I'm going to let my own truth be an example. I'm not going to argue. If you ask my opinion then I will give it. I am a living breathing person, and I change and adapt as new concepts come and go. You all have the ability to do the same. I'm going to try to be respectful but realistic.