ta-ra*el~la

I actually have to disagree that postmodernism has been helpful for trans people. The case for trans acceptance can rest on medical science alone. Postmodernism has only served to confuse things and allow the right wing to trivialize trans issues and paint trans identity as unscientific. Trans people were doing fine before people started arguing whether gender is a social construct (which is not necessarily relevant to trans people). More generally speaking, postmodernism is bad for social justice and good for right wing propaganda against necessary reforms. The fact is, you have to look at what's effective at changing things in real life, and old school liberalism still has the best track record. It was an old school liberal coalition that got marriage equality done, for example. Postmodernism would have made a mess of it. As a supporter of social justice and reformism, I feel like postmodern theories have often stood in our way, and provided ammunition for the right.

Why is everyone so upset about Meghan Trainor?

By the way, is India Willoughby right-wing? From what I see, I don't think so. I think Caitlyn Jenner is a Republican and she is the only prominent example of a right-wing trans person I know of. Are there any others (besides YouTubers that 99% of the general public don't know anyway)?

My take is, the next few years are crucial, but the 'progressive left' won't have the numbers to block bad things from happening. The liberals and centrists are the swing vote here, and winning them over is crucial. In the US, Biden is pro-LGBT, so as long as he wins in 24, nothing bad will happen federally. The red states are probably beyond saving at this point, and trans people might have to flee. By 28, hopefully the moral panic will have subsided, or at least the Republicans will have stopped nominating people like Trump and DeSantis. If not, then we just have to continue to fight. In the UK, the conservatives probably won't have enough time and capital to do anything bad before the election. As long as Starmer wins, nothing bad will happen for 5 years. However, it could be a stalemate for a while. The moral panic should die down within Starmer's 1st term. This means there might be room for trans rights reforms to begin again in Starmer's 2nd term in the early 2030s (most governments get a second term). In Canada, trans rights guarantees are pretty strong, so less worry there. However, the conservatives might win the next election, so a little bit of worry there. Similar situation in NZ. In Australia, the topic seems to not be part of the general political consciousness yet. Therefore the future is uncertain. But the current PM is generally pro-LGBT.

Basically, liberal = freedom comes first, pro-science, pro-objectivity postmodern = everything is about power, speech/discourse/knowledge is power relations, science/medicine skeptical (because of the power thing), also skeptical of objectivity (again due to the obsession with power) Sometimes, you just have to take a 'what you see is what you get' attitude to life, and stop thinking that power and oppression are hidden everywhere. Science and medicine, in particular, are not out to oppress anyone. There is no such thing as Biopower (as Foucault described). The very idea is an attack on science and medicine. It sounds similar to anti-vax theories to me.

Let's not start a fight over liberals vs leftists. My point was that leftists should not see liberals as the enemy, and liberals should not see leftists as the enemy, because we have a real enemy in the authoritarian culture warrior Right. For example, while I criticize postmodern theory, I don't see leftists as the enemy. I accept that leftists will criticize the liberal worldview too, but please don't see us as the enemy.

Honestly it was because of Bernie's supporters. Bernie wasn't into postmodern theory but many of his supporters were, and I was a bit worried. Postmodern theory isn't compatible with free speech and freedom of conscience, and is therefore a dealbreaker for me. If the left would drop the postmodernism, I think us liberals (at least those not too keen on capitalism) would have a better relationship with the left.

Look, I'm sincere about wanting liberals and leftists to be able to work together, at least to some extent. Without this happening, we will all get destroyed by Ron DeSantis and others like him. There's a lot at stake here. And liberal doesn't mean neoliberal. I'm not too keen on capitalism, to be honest. I just don't like postmodern critical theory. In other words, I don't have a problem with Bernie Sanders. I have a problem with the ideas of Foucault.

If you're frustrated, let me offer this honest opinion: progressives should not have alienated liberals (broadly speaking, people who put freedom first) in the first place. Now's not too late to mend the relationship. Only with the support of liberals can LGBT rights be protected.

As I see it, many 30-somethings are economically left leaning (due to being poor), but they increasingly dislike the cultural politics that is popular on university campuses, and find Gen-Z activism alien. Many also report being more small-c conservative in many ways. However, they also don't like the anti-climate, anti-LGBT culture warriors on the Right. This, plus the economic stuff, means they won't be voting conservative anytime soon. I've come across many people who are saying things like 'if the left dropped the cultural stuff they would become more popular'. I suspect this is true. I mean, Bernie almost won on that formula, after all. I mean, the left should still push back against right-wing culture politics, but they shouldn't start culture wars of their own.

Having read some discussion on this topic today, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps Millennials are becoming more conservative, but they are not attracted to the brand of 'conservatism' practiced by the Republican Party and the Conservative Party right now. After all, it's more like reactionary culture war politics than real conservatism. But outside of electoral politics, the average 36 year old is still clearly more conservative than the average 18 year old. Therefore, the Millennials are behaving normally, and the Republican/Conservative Party are the source of this apparent abnormality.

As I said, those are fake centrists, and I'm not that kind of centrist. I do not support poverty, homelessness, terrible working conditions, bad social security, neoliberalism, and endless wars etc. I hate people identifying as centrist to advance right-wing politics. I guess my differences with 'the left' are more philosophical. I mean, I support the 'left' candidate most, if not all, the time (as in e.g. US Democrats vs Republicans, UK Labour vs Conservative, Australian Labor vs LNP). I support Democrat/Labor type policies generally. But my philosophy is not actually 'left'. That is why I identify as a 'centrist'.

I identify as a centrist (among other things) and I think Biden is a good example of a centrist president. As for those who think DeSantis is centrist, they are probably delusional. DeSantis is to the Right of Trump, in my opinion, so in no world can he be thought of as a centrist. Fake centrists (who are almost always right-wing) give us a bad name. We should call them out.

Deplatforming is bad because it leads to polarization and radicalization. This means more regular conservatives get turned into far right people. Anyway, if Twitter collapses, and we need something else to replace it, I suggest one major objective of the new platform should be to prevent echo chambers from forming. This will lead to less polarization and radicalization.

I think I need to remind everyone that religious fundamentalists and gender critical feminists are a prominent part of the Twitterverse (even before Elon Musk bought it).

My biggest problem with DeSantis is that he is basically an enemy of free speech. His approach to politics is to essentially silence those who disagree with him. It's basically government enforced cancel culture, and that is very dangerous. Not even Trump is anywhere nearly as authoritarian. The anti-LGBT angle does play well in many parts of America, unfortunately. Therefore there really needs to be an attempt to push back against it.

I have no problem with Elon Musk's decision here. Deplatforming Trump was always an own-goal for liberals. Let Trump destroy himself on Twitter. If he had been allowed to do that in the past 2 years, the Democrats might even have had a blue wave in the midterms. More free speech always leads to truth and justice. One way this happens is that bad ideas get discredited by more exposure.

I would rather Trump than DeSantis, if forced to choose. DeSantis is very scary.

TaraElla Weekly + Daily Chart Update 8 Nov 2022 Weekly #1: Meghan Trainor - Made You Look (1 week @ #1) Daily Chart: 1. Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loneliest Time 2. Alexandra Kay - Backroad Therapy (former Daily #1) 3. Sam Smith & Kim Petras - Unholy (former Daily #1) 4. Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero (former Daily #1) 5. Maggie Lindemann - Cages (former Daily #1)

Thanks for the comments, JSG and Sergej!

TaraElla Weekly + Daily Chart Update 2 Nov 2022 Weekly #1: Caleb Hutchinson & Maddie Poppe - Islands in the Stream (7 weeks @ #1) Daily Chart: 1. Sam Smith & Kim Petras - Unholy (Sam Smith's 1st #1; Kim Petras's 4th #1) 2. Meghan Trainor - Made You Look (former Daily #1) 3. Alexandra Kay - Backroad Therapy 4. Carly Rae Jepsen - The Loneliest Time 5. Taylor Swift - Anti-Hero (former Daily #1)

Don't be so harsh on the Democrats. They are doing a good job considering the situation America is in.

Truly happy that Bolsonaro is gone! Right-wing authoritarianism must be defeated wherever it pops up.

I don't understand why Meghan Trainor has been so underrated in recent times. And I'm saying this as someone who wasn't a fan of All About That Base back in 2014. In my own chart, she has had #1s every year from 2015 to 2022 except 2021, and she's already had 3 #1s this year so far.

I don't know if Musk owning Twitter is really that bad. I don't agree with his politics but I can't see how it can be too bad. Re Trump back on - he needs some exposure so people can remember how bad he is. Right now, young people are cooling off Biden because they don't have the threat of Trump. Trump back on Twitter can help Biden win in 2024. Otherwise it might be DeSantis, who is 100x worse than Trump at least. Re free speech - we fight bad ideas with good ideas. There is no escaping doing this hard work. US Dems and UK Labour are losing because they fail to show up to the debate properly. Therefore, might as well debate the 'biggest names' of the Right when they come back, so we win fair and square in the marketplace of ideas.