Consept

Main thing, whatever you say, say it with confidence

I'm not even sure people need a change as much as theyve been convinced they need one. There was somewhat of a disconnection between politicians and the public but then I would say Obama, Clinton and even Bush to some extent were actually able to connect quite well, Hilary is the only recent president or should nearly president, that didnt connect that well. What I think has happened is the right, actually the further right, Christian theocracy type, has done a really good job at demonising the left. The reality is things like Trans issues, DEI, LGBTQ, dont really affect the average american, esp trans as that population is so small my guess is most americans have not even met one, let alone have them compete in their local sports team. But the fear of it is so outweighed with the reality and honestly its incredible marketing from the right. It taps into fears of an America that is now unfamiliar to many. Immigration as well has been exaggerated so much with claims of criminals coming over, the reality is America wont even function without this working class of people as they will soon find out. So them rather taking people like Trump, RFK, Gabbard is a purposeful thing, as in if we can scare you enough, you will think that these people should be in power because theyre offering a solution (even though its not a solution) to the problems that theyve exaggerated. Trump saying theres no only 2 genders, literally changes nothing but it makes supporters feel as if hes handled that 'problem'. So in one way you can say well played to the right, but it is completely devilish behaviour, unfortunately people have not really got to grips or understand what putting these people in power may lead to and sometimes we need that lesson. Its like going back to your toxic ex over and over, America is going back facism and they will do probably until it nearly kills them.

She could be the worst yet

I probably wouldnt tell people what to do in this case, you can, I'm sure that will increase their mental health

Ah right I got confused because you brought studies into it, but you're shifting the goal posts now that's fine. What I would care about is actual outcomes for people. If people are getting outcomes from the treatment they're getting who am I to say you shouldn't do that or have an opinion I gained from taking mushrooms to tell them it's a bandaid? I don't go around telling people that they shouldn't get nose jobs or liposuction or do extreme body modification, so why would it be my business to tell trans people what to do? Espeicially when you take into account that most of them are happier with their treatment? If I have psychedelic trip that working is bullshit, should I go around attacking people for working? My thing has always been live and let live, but I respect you feel different, it's your choice 🙏🏽

As I said, mental health, especially things like suicidal ideation, is not an all or nothing thing, if you're thinking about suicide everyday and therapy takes it down to once a week then obviously that's great progress. Most therapy is not going to cure mental health issues completely, it doesn't work like that, some people do therapy for trauma for years. A 40% reduction in mental health issues for someone would be considered an incredible improvement. Generally your post has lots of speculation and assumptions, do you have anything to back it up or it's just your belief? I can't really debate your beliefs if that is the case

They do that as far as I understand. Also I don't think you can have surgery under 18

I don't think you're understanding this study, it's not all or nothing, like you have stress or you don't have stress. Whatever their current stress level was let's say out of 10, 10 being the highest, all of them would be at different levels some will be at 5, some will be at 2, some will be at 10. The average reduction is 40% so no matter what level you were at, it would've reduced by 40% on average, if you were at 10 it would've gone down to 6, if it was 6 it would've gone down to 3.6 etc. It doesn't mean that they still have 55% stress that doesn't make sense. Do you have any sources that say the reduction is only temporary? How did you come to that conclusion?

If you quoting that study then obviously it's a success. You seem to be misreading it, it's saying on average there was a decrease in people who had surgeries had a decrease in suicidal ideation and psychological distress. It's like saying the average lost 42% of their body fat after doing a certain diet, you're not gonna say it's not a success because they didn't lose all of it. This is actually a better study than my example. Also different studies will have slightly different outcomes but usually if the size is as close as possible and there's a good number of participants you should see a general trend, you could also look at a meta analysis of all the studies to see a more complete picture. But at least from both the studies we've shared we can see positive outcomes. You don't have to of course but I'm just making the point that you don't seem to have the same concern for a much bigger issue that you have for the relatively small issue of trans surgery. Or maybe I'm misreading you and you really care I don't know.

Plastic surgery is a massive industry and it is encouraged a lot through social media. There are a lot more people who undertake that some of which is extremely dangerous, it affects a lot more people as well which means much more negative outcomes overall. Point is there's not the sane outrage over this much greater issue.

So if you care wouldn't you be happy to know that suicidality was 73% lower after gender affirming care for that group that was studied? Or does your care only extend to treatment you approve of even if its not as effective in regard to their mental health?

I understand where you're coming from in terms of an external solution may not improve an internal issue, but either way who are we to police that and say what's too far? There's people literally getting body modifications to look like lizards and aliens and there's not really any outrage for that, no one really cares. So I don't really get the outrage here. Also if you care about people's mental health would it affect your opinion if there were many studies that found gender affirming care improved mental health? "In this prospective cohort of 104 TNB youths aged 13 to 20 years, receipt of gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones, was associated with 60% lower odds of moderate or severe depression and 73% lower odds of suicidality over a 12-month follow-up." https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2789423 I'm not saying there are absolutely no issues around the trans topic, but I don't really understand why people care so much and get so involved. There are probably more people addicted to plastic surgery or try and get it cheap in foreign countries that has a lot more issues around it, mental health and the practicality of the surgery.

Everyone constructs an ego though, people identify as goths, some people get extreme body modification, tattoos etc, you could make the same argument you're making with trans in that, theyre not really a goth, is a mental illness thats led to them changing their body and looks. A goth could be mentally ill as well and a trans person might not be mentally ill but theres a special outrage for trans people. Everyone in society has a constructed identity, its just theres ones that loads of people subscribe to, mainstream identities if you will and theres some that are more niche, the ones that are mainstream usually seem to look down on the niche ones and in some cases question their right to even exist, especially if it threatens their own identity

Thats fine but you can have that argument for any distinction or identity, there is no race, there is no gender, there is no age etc etc. The issue is that if you're denied rights for being trans or for being a woman or man, or black or chinese etc. Your point is valid in a non-dual, spiritual realm and I agree, however we do have to live in this physical realm where distinctions do become important when people are treated unfairly because of a particular distinction. Therefore I would make the argument that any distinction is as important as any other distinction within the this societal context. Also the fact you bring this up specifically with trans and maybe not as much with other identities would suggest some kind of prejudice, this may not be the case but im just pointing it out. Even if you did bring it up for other identities it doesnt really lead to a productive dialogue, basically dont be that guy

This ones so wild he just pulls all this out of his arse

Whats you argument against it? I will preface this with I dont believe trans women (or men) are literally biological women (or men), but they are a category that is distinct from biological men and distinct from biological women. They are trans women which is necessary to label as such because of the obvious differences between how we classify traditional gender.

This is from https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-anti-vaxxer-playbook-to-destroy-confidence-in-covid-19-vaccines/ which documents how RFK jr and others led a campaign to take advantage of the covid pandemic and use that to increase negative sentiment around vaccines so that they can make money from it. I've only included some of the report but you can click the link for the whole thing. This is truly despicable behaviour imo because lives were on the line. To present this guy as someone who's going to save health when this was his reaction to a pandemic is completely nuts, it's like the chickens voting for the wolf to look after their safety. In early 2020 the CCDH put out a report entitled The Anti-Vaxx Industry which examined anti-vaccine social media, noting that 409 different English language anti-vaccine accounts had 58 million followers, with evidence that collectively, followers had grown approximately 19% since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a booming business opportunity for anti-vaxxers and social media alike. The CCDH named four different sub-communities of anti-vaxxers: Campaigners are full-time, anti-vaccine professionals who may be seen as “experts”. They make a living based on promoting anti-vaccine sentiment and ideas. Their examples include: Informed Consent Action Network (Del Bigtree), Children’s Health Defence (Robert F. Kennedy Jr.), and the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). Entrepreneurs leverage and amplify vaccine fears to sell content, products and services. Examples include Rashid Buttar, Ty and Charlene Bollinger, David Wolfe, Judy Mikovits, and the biggest, Joseph Mercola. Conspiracists focus on vaccines from a conspiracy angle, but vaccines are not their full-time focus. They may also be entrepreneurs. Examples they listed include Brian Rose, David Icke, and Patrick Bet-David. Communities are groups that share anti-vaccine ideas and stories, usually in Facebook Groups. Examples include “Stop Mandatory Vaccination”, “Vaccine Re-education Discussion Forum”, “Vaccine Choices”, and many more hidden, private groups. Certainly there is some overlap in these categories, and while I might quibble with their classifications, it’s worth acknowledging that anti-vaccine sentiment and rhetoric can be driven by a variety of motivations. While Facebook and other providers took some steps to address anti-vaccine sentiment after measles outbreaks in the US, the measures were largely ineffective in preventing its continued growth on the platforms. For example, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who has touted COVID-related conspiracies since the beginning of the pandemic, has seen his Instagram following rise from 121,000 at the beginning of the pandemic to 792,000 today. He is just one example of the number of anti-vaccine advocates who have seen large increases in audience and reach. This type of growth is continuing largely unabated, probably because the CCDH has estimated that the anti-vaccine movement could be generating up to $1 billion in advertising revenue across the different platforms. Facilitating and spreading vaccine misinformation is highly profitable. The master narrative Despite the disparate group of individuals that are driving anti-vaccine sentiment, messaging has consolidated around a few key messages. NVIC’s virtual conference in October 2020 was accessible to anyone that registered, and CCDH attended. Prominent speakers included Barbara Loe Fisher (NVIC), Joseph Mercola, Del Bigtree, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Sherri Tenpenny, and Andrew Wakefield. CCDH noted that these speakers see COVID-19 as a historic opportunity: A number of speakers at the NVIC conference presented the Covid pandemic as an historic opportunity to popularise anti-vaccine sentiment. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told activists listening to the conference “All of the truths that we’ve been trying to broadcast for many, many years. There are people hearing it and the impact and those seeds are landing on very fertile ground.” The disgraced physician Andrew Wakefield echoed these sentiments, saying “The population who are aware of these issues has grown dramatically in the face of coronavirus, Covid-19. It is now an issue for discussion by everyone.” Other anti-vaxxers such as Sherri Tenpenny highlighted the Covid pandemic as an opportunity to build a wider movement with campaigners against masks and lockdowns: “We need everyone to get politically active, get behind this cause, get behind Hugs Over Masks, get behind MAD, Mothers Against Distancing, get behind the NVIC, the National Vaccine Information Center, get behind the things that we’re doing over at vaxxter.com, and Courses for Mastery, and our boot camp course that open enrolment is coming up again, the end of September. All the things that we’re doing, we need all hands on deck. We need everybody to release their fear from their brains, get rid of their masks, go hug people and absolutely say no. Wake up your community.” There are three key messages identified by the CCDH that are overlapping and common across these different speakers. They are recurrent and you will see them, in some form, in almost all anti-COVID-19-vaccine messaging: COVID-19 is not dangerous. Talking points: There are few deaths, and death reports are exaggerated. “It’s just the flu.” “It will just go away on its own.” COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous. Talking points: “The vaccines were rushed.” “The vaccines are killing people.” “Natural” immunity is better. Other treatments (e.g., hydroxychloroquine) are safer and better. “Vaccines are toxic.” “Vaccines will change your DNA/destroy your immune system.” etc. etc. Vaccine advocates cannot be trusted. Talking points: “It’s politics over health.” “It’s Big Pharma profits over health.” Vaccines are “too big to fail” and manufacturers are “not liable for injuries.” “Bill Gates! Bill Gates! Bill Gates!” Adapting the Master Narrative The Master Narrative is easily adaptable to target specific groups. The CCDH lists four, and describes how messaging is being modified to make the messaging more appealing: Alternative health advocates “COVID-19 is not dangerous” becomes “Alternative health products can prevent or treat COVID-19.” This is simply an extension of what we have documented repeatedly at this blog – the unending array of unproven or ineffective products touted as effective because someone has something to sell. “The COVID-19 vaccine is dangerous” is translated to “Alternative health experts say the vaccine is dangerous.” Another recurrent topic on this blog, where we have documented the efforts of naturopaths, chiropractors, homeopaths and other providers who do not practice based on scientific standards. Some of these practitioners are repeating misinformation and leveraging their perceived credibility as “professionals”. “Vaccine advocates cannot be trusted” becomes “Vaccine advocates suppress alternative health.” This is something that any health professional who advocates for science-based medicine hears all the time. By criticizing unproven or disproven remedies, we are dogmatic, not open to new ideas, and beholden to the pharma-industrial complex. Conspiracy theorists “COVID-19 is not dangerous” is translated to “COVID is a Scamdemic.” The message becomes: COVID-19 doesn’t exist, or has never been isolated. Or it’s all due to 5G. “The COVID-19 vaccine is dangerous” is translated to “The vaccine is designed to control you or kill you.” Vaccination (this one at least) will apparently usher in some sort of totalitarian society. Microchips in the vaccines (really tiny ones) will track you and cause mind control. “Vaccine advocates cannot be trusted” becomes “COVID is a Plandemic”. The pandemic was all intentional, to create the need for lockdowns and infringements on civil liberties. The vaccine will be used to kill millions as part of “The Great Reset” which will destroy the global economy.

I can't believe the state of US politics right now, it wasn't great before but it's actually scary how bad this could get and it's not even hidden at all, it's all so obvious

What I didn't realise is that rfk makes money from suing companies and he couldn't even commit to not getting money while and for 4 years after his term. He can still sue but not get money but that's not acceptable to him. America actually had a full pn dictator with the safety rails off, this is wild

yeah was gonna post this as well, he got destroyed but funny cos maga will still make excuses for him

Yeah first date simple almost pre-date, bar for a drink or coffee or shisha, cool place but not too expensive. I'd definitely pay the first date however it went, if it's buying rounds of drinks and they want to buy a round that's cool and prob a good sign. I wouldn't go for a meal or anything like that, it's more just getting to know each other and having a bit of fun

The weight loss is really impressive, 60kg is a whole human, so that would have made a massive difference anyway. But yeah you can't even tell she transitioned, there is a lot of make up going on though

Aww that's very sweet, thanks so much for your words🙏🏽 Also I didn't realise there was an actualized.org marriage, I'm kinda mind blown, but it's so cool you and @Marcel found each other on here and are so supportive of each other, really incredible and shows a massive benefit of spaces like this x

@Whitney Edwards Amazing 👏🏾 I think sometimes people don't really see your journey, they just see wherever you are now and I think it's really cool @integral noticed and pointed it out, it's such kind thing to do. But keep going, similar to downward spirals, upward spirals are also a thing and the more you work on yourself, the more good things and situations will arise and then they'll feed off each other. Well done x

I agree, in general the manipulation and the fact that it's usually someone who doesn't really know who they are or have good self-esteem to want non-monogamy, puts me off going down the road. What I tend to do is if we have lets say a date or meet up, if I can tell they like me but I don't really see them as a long term option or in the moment I just want something casual, I'll just tell them upfront. Something like right now 'I'm not really looking for anything serious but I'd still like to hang out and get to know you a bit better'. I maybe lying to myself lol but I feel like this gives them the option to back out or go with it and I haven't let them get to the point of catching feelings before making a decision, they're going in with their eyes open. I must say as well, most times I've done this they've been OK with it and we've actually had good but I guess sometimes short relationships. This actually hit for me, not that I think my parents hated me, but I would keep getting the message that I wasn't good how I was and in their eyes, step dad and mum, I needed to be different. What I've come to realise is that they have/had some real issues that they're still not fully aware of but I was under the impression they were 'normal' when I was younger, so because I wasn't crazy like them, I felt something was wrong with me. I didn't have the self-esteem and perspective to even think it could be them. Luckily I was able to give that love to my younger sister so her self-esteem didn't really suffer in the same way as mine and she could see pretty early on the situation. That's really good bro, I'm happy for you that you came out of it. Now you're like a non-monogamy love guru lol jk 😜