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SkookumTree


				

				

				

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joined 2023 January 21 01:36:22 UTC
				

				

				

				

				

				

					
				

				

				
				
				

				
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SkookumTree


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2023 January 21 01:36:22 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 2117


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				In This House, We Believe in Gender Stereotypes
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Kind of gross but interesting thought experiment: what if Mike had undergone this procedure age 14, at his insistence: his UMC parents believed he was trans, and bought him a lab-grown body. What if Mike was 10? Five? Two years old? An infant? I suppose that the distinction here is 'how much gendered socialization do you have; how many gendered memories do you have'.


Also: what if Mike undergoes this procedure on his 18th birthday, lives as a woman for 30 years, and then decides he wants to be a man again? Is he a dude that lived 30 years as a woman?


I know - this is kind of getting Ship of Theseus-y here.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
In theory they could have formed a militia to fight the war criminals, and could have been expected to.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


this will be subject to a power law distribution, not a normal distribution.




That is true for anything that has to do with capital. A thing is capital if having some helps you get more of it. As such, social capital (the number of friends you have; how many favors you can call in and how large) and financial capital ($) follow those same power laws. I mean, the archetypal "Chad" is not a lazy couch potato. Yes, he won the genetic lottery or at least did well. But he was also busting his ass since he was six, practicing football or something, lifting weights in high school, figuring out how to be more popular. Depending on where he is, he might also be hitting the books as well.


Hmm. If a guy is moderately attractive/charismatic, puts in lots of effort, and is smart academically-skilled enough to graduate in the top ~20 percent of his college class in a STEM subject? If he's going for a low-risk, medium-reward option he can become an actuary or a physician's assistant and be more or less assured of making that much. Granted, $110k at 25 is doing well for yourself but the 24yo physician's assistant isn't rich when he's making that much. He could become a travel nurse, as well. Those are basically guaranteed low six figures. If he is really good at math he might be able to be a quant.


Hitting the big bucks probably takes either more risk or having a side hustle like real estate or business ownership that pays off well.


As for reigning in female behavior: why would this be desirable? You've (at least, as per this model) got the successful, conscientious, lucky, charismatic guys with lots of success with women, and you have the unlucky, lazy awkward dudes alone. Yes, there's the old chestnut that young single dudes might go for broke and tear the place up, but I think that's only the case if they're also impoverished. The average perennially-single American male wouldn't do well in prison and knows it.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


V4




There is one trait in which I happened to win the genetic lottery: grip strength. I went to a climbing gym a few years ago and was able to climb V4 my first day; I was 5'6" and 150 pounds then. Probably my grip strength is 90th or 95th percentile.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Fifty years of civil rights law and affirmative action hadn't equalized blacks.




I think that if we simply had race-neutral policies that we would see equality after somewhere between 100 and 500 years.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I mean. Is Eugene, Oregon c. 2015 a "low trust society"? If you get the wheels stolen off your bike, as I did, odds are it's not Tyrone from the 'hood doing the stealing. It's probably some white dude who may or may not have a meth habit. Not that much violent crime out there, but a hell of a lot of bike theft.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Push whatever the local fairly mainstream brand of conservative religion is. Larger tax breaks for kids, provided that a family is earning more than 80 percent of the median household income. I suppose more single-sex and/or religious schools.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah, if the US government knew about the lab leak, covering that up might have been the smart thing to do in 2020.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


For a younger guy, unless you won the genetic lottery you literally cannot compete with that on equal terms, since wealth and status usually take time to accrue.




You need to be an extremely conscientious, hardworking, determined guy and have been busting your ass since at the latest your early teens. If you've been working very hard AND are fairly smart and charismatic AND were born into a middle-class household, you might be able to make $250k/year by the time you're 27.


In all honesty, this does not seem like a bad ideal to set for young men: you need to be exceptional in order to find a partner. Even those who fail will have worked hard and reaped the reward.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I've heard it said that only women and children should be accepted as refugees; the men should have been fighting for the fatherland. That makes sense for wars. I don't know if it makes sense for natural disasters.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Single men tend to be, and I can't quite find the right word here, but perhaps evil captures it. By this, I mean they have personality traits that make them a bad person. They are cruel, uncaring, and obviously this way.




I don't know about that. Granted, Burners and medical students might not be the most representative sample, but I've seen plenty of people that couldn't get dates despite their best efforts. To me they seemed like more or less decent human beings. The medical students were short; the burners were autistic and sometimes short as well. I will give you that there might be a kind of assholery that only comes out when these people interact with women.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yeah. Had he opened fire after the trial, it would have been far more understandable; had he been a better shot and only killed the two rapists, there's an excellent case to be made for him walking a free man.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Sure. Juries have convicted. But would the case even make it to a jury? You can easily imagine good ol' boy cops deciding that these guys couldn't possibly have committed such a heinous crime, or perhaps suggesting that the suspects in question leave town.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 12, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Was 1996 Alabama really THAT racist? Would the random average white person in Alabama at that time be considered racist enough by default that they would automatically side against any black defendant?




I don't think so. Emmett Till's killers had to half-ass hiding the body and were shunned after openly admitting to the crime. I'd suspect that the jurors and community members were willing to look the other way and give a lot of benefit of the doubt, but felt it was distasteful to openly admit to...something that might not quite have been murder in their eyes, but was still rather ugly. I'd think that if it was an open-and-shut case and it went to trial, there'd be a good chance of conviction. The most likely way that these guys could get away with it is the case just not going to trial and it either being hushed up or the good ol' boys being quietly told to leave town.




How differently, if at all, would such a trial be perceived today?




Evil racists raping decent people; with media and federal attention/oversight any good ol' boys who were inclined to cover it up or help the suspects would know they were being watched like hawks.




What is a proper punishment for the father, if any? If I had to give a verdict, I'd say he should be found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, which is an extremely short sentence for a double murder and maiming of a cop, but warranted given the context. I most certainly wouldn't be comfortable with finding him not guilty, not if we want to have a functional society.




For the double murder: probably a light sentence, if any. For the maiming of the cop, five years in prison. There's a case to be made for giving him a pardon after ten years' good behavior and expunging his record after 15.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				In This House, We Believe in Gender Stereotypes
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


And if in a biopunk future they somehow could, they'd still have not-been and be relegated to arriviste status.




I am not sure how much this would matter. Imagine if winding up in the body you would have had if you'd been born the other sex, or just a lab-grown body indistinguishable from the real thing, cost you around three months' wages for the median worker. This wouldn't be a trivial expense by any means, but it would be within the reach of average, determined people. Now you've got Mike, who's always felt that he was a woman and ever since he was 13 he's been saving up for this. He finally plunks down close to twenty grand of his hard-earned cash age 21, and gets his lab-grown body. There's some adjusting to do, and some learning, but is Mary (formerly Mike) a "real woman"? He's lived twenty-one years of his life as a man...but now, Mary's body is indistinguishable from that of a natal female. Mary's brain might be a little bit different. But if this was possible in 2200, and we dumped Mary into a time machine to the present day, we would just think that Mary was a little weird and call it a day.


Is Mary's behavior likely to be so different that it'll make her stand out, and people would "clock" her as one of the Labgrown?


Also: why isn't the transgender movement pumping its fundraising efforts into this type of research? Yes, it might still be a century away, but still. Progress in this area could be incredibly valuable for lots of things, not just trans stuff.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
44 vs. 76 isn’t exactly all that fair, even accounting for Trump’s size and weight advantage.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
It might seem silly, but DeSantis is 44, Trump 76. The young, small guy would beat the senior citizen. Trump could potentially turn things around and say that DeSantis is just a liar and a braggart, beating up on a fit old guy or some crap like that. Then he can say DeSantis has a Napoleon complex, if he really is 5’9”. Even at six feet, DeSantis might have a hard time doing this.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for June 7, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I haven't made and don't need one - but there might be people with things like asthma reading this who need them.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If it was relatively inexpensive though nontrivial to switch sex - some kind of sci-fi lab grown body tier shit - what would happen? What would happen if it cost three months' wages to switch sex? That would be a hell of an interesting thing and an interesting environment to be in.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Trans people have always been with us. Nature is not perfect. I have heard it said that there were four genders: men, women, crackpots, and mutants. Separating crackpots and mutants is a hard thing to do with the medical science of 2023. Perhaps someone will find a way to do it, and the people of 2160 will look at us like we looked at the age before germ theory.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I think that the jettisoning's going to happen in five to ten years. We'll wind up with a de facto third and fourth gender (trans man, trans woman); I sure as hell hope that membership there doesn't imply or require irreversible medical treatment. As for queers...they're kinda the sex/gender liberals. We need 'em...but we also need conservatives in order to keep liberals from going insane.


*Consider the aphorism that conservatives are stupid and evil, while liberals are simply insane.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Someone that has undergone some kind of sci-fi procedure to wind up in the body of someone of the opposite sex at, say, 25 would be a very interesting person. They'd have had a quarter-century of socialization and life experience in their birth sex. That would have a strong impact on who they were as people afterwards.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of June 5, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
See Thomas Sowell, Black Rednecks and White Liberals, for an at-least-plausible explanation. E'Bonniè'ics is less implausible than you would think...


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for June 7, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Any of y'all affected by the wildfire smoke: try making a Corsi-Rosenthal box. The name sounds fancy, but it's just a box fan duct-taped to some furnace filters.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Wellness Wednesday for June 7, 2023
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I’m too distrusting of people and bad at social interactions to try to find someone from the psychedelic underground.




I would recommend Burning Man regional events and otherwise becoming involved in the burner community. There are a lot of autists there and a lot of psychedelics. It might take you a couple of years, but you could probably find an underground psychedelic therapist. You might also make lasting friendships. You simply need to be helpful and not incompetent at car camping in the woods/desert. Alternately, you could go to Oregon and look there for different types of alternative healers that practice with psychedelics; it's decriminalized there. IIRC it's also legal in the Netherlands, or at least tolerated the same way they're OK with pot and head shops.


Unfortunately, none of this is going to be cheap or easy. It will cost you thousands. Good luck.