Key Thinking (Aloud)

This is a stream-of-consciousness one, a little lighter, a little empathetic, and of course some politics, but also depth. Let's be one with the universe yall.

Trans activism has been simmering for a while. I've been paying attention, wondering what my role is as a well-intentioned person who cares about progress and justice. I've decided that it does not include adding he/him to my bio, my by-line, my email signature or anything else. I have a few reasons for that. Does it make me a transphobe or bigot? You can tell me.

A difficult and explicit look at abhorrent behavior, especially depicted in various films.

I'm embracing contrarian thinking. I've never thought of myself as controversial, but people tell me I am. I just appreciate nuance, and despise groupthink. It's important to seriously consider facts and goals before forming opinions, and this podcast offers a space to do that.

LibLefts get made fun of a lot on reddit.com/politicalcompassmemes, and maybe that's fair. But it's how I identify, despite my contrarian attitudes toward other leftists, and my appreciation for centrism and other ways of thinking. Still, this is where I land. In this episode, I take the political compass quiz and talk through my answers.

Topics covered in this one:

How are you feeling? I've been better, and I want to talk through it. Society doesn't really know how to address the topic of mental health - not intrapersonally, not interpersonally, not more broadly, regarding the least fortunate on our city streets. And we're not quite aware enough of our typical behaviors and socio-political attitudes, and how our mental health contributes to such topics. So let's reflect on all this.

Some thoughts post election:

I voted from Berlin, and I’m proud of that, even if my vote in New York doesn’t mean much.

I really expected Biden to win easily, so again I have to eat my words, as the election remains too close to call. Too much deja vu, for sure.

The Dems are pathetic. Regardless of what happens.

I’m not too worried about Trump’s wild authoritarian LARPing.

Leftists need to understand better why the’yre unappealing to average/swing voters. I wish we did more introspection and legit discourse about that, instead of demonizing our political opponents.

I'm not a big sports fan. I think sports are an imperfect entertainment, an emotionally draining investment and a poor substitute for narrative fiction. But we love sports as a society for deep psychological reasons, and it IS satisfying when our team wins. The Los Angeles Dodgers are my favorite sports team, and they've (finally) won the world series. I'm especially happy for my dad, to whom this episode is dedicated. He's overjoyed. Me? I'm just relieved, happy that I'm not disappointed.

Civic duty is important. But how much is voting a civic duty, really? Maybe it depends... Depending on your particular circumstances, voting can be really tricky, actually. One might wonder if it's even worth it... It probably depends on the urgency of the particular election, the details of your district, and the social pressure involved. Isn’t stigma a major factor in this decision? I'm personally having a tough time with all of it. There are quite few barriers for some, and apathy doesn't help. And whose fault is that?

I keep getting canceled. Not "officially" - I have no boss that can fire me. But I feel it all around, in so many of my social interactions and conversations. I feel the cold shoulder of prominent opinion turning on my provocative nature. Society doesn't seem to embrace contrarian thinking these days, and the room for challenging questions keep dwindling.