I've read two articles inspired, mainly, by the recall election of the San Francisco District Attorney who seems to be the key one to blame for the rise in crime in the city.
The first appeared in the Atlantic, and seems to be written by a lesbian SF native, who certainly grew up with tolerance to the city's long standing quirks (such as public nudity in parts of it). Here it is: How San Francisco Became a Failed City.
The second one is by Noah Smith, who also lives there now. His essay is broader and covers other aspects where he thinks progressives are facing some well deserved pushback: The year we all became reactionaries.
He doesn't cover the trans wars, and seems reluctant to dip his toe into that issue: but as I keep saying, I reckon the progressive attitude that "there's nothing to see here" in the matter of trans in sports is not going to win in the culture wars.
I always expected a blowback on the trans in sport issue. There is too much evidence that transitioning post puberty creates an absurd situation. Hossenfelder recently produced a video on the subject. She makes the interesting point that sport is not about fairness because elite athletes typically have a genetic advantage. Sport is about entertainment but we have this illusion that everyone is on a level playing field, or did so until the trans issue came along. The difference with the trans issue is that even at the lower levels of competition the transwomen can have a tremendous advantage whereas other individuals can be competitive through hard work without a distinct genetic advantage.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I watched her video on it. A lot of people (including me) thought it sounded a bit too much like half baked excuse making for trans athletes, though, when her position became "what is fairness, anyway?"
ReplyDeleteWhat we have next. I am a black because I believe I am a black man?
ReplyDeleteSteve I didn't interpret her comments as an excuse but rather a reframing of the problem. Watching the French open I noticed the stadium had a sign about victory going to the most tenacious. That's only half true. At the elite level, and to a lesser extent at the lower levels, the genetic component is is important. Every aspect of human behavior, even tenaciousness, has a genetic component. That is not proven at this point in time but it is the way to bet.
ReplyDeleteThe trans issue has gotten out of hand. Just because someone feels a certain way doesn't make it so. Whenever a diagnosis becomes trendy there is a big spike in people thinking they have that condition. In medical circles interns are known to experience "intern's syndrome". Autism became trendy so everyone was suddenly "on the spectrum". In the 80's ADD became trendy and so many more were diagnosed with the condition. The diagnosis of depression has become a joke. Children and teenagers are more susceptible to this than adults.