Controversial Political Opinions

[Eric the Green]

(03-17-2022, 01:51 PM)JasonBlack Wrote:

(03-17-2022, 01:22 PM)Eric the Green Wrote:

(03-17-2022, 01:10 PM)JasonBlack Wrote:

(03-17-2022, 07:52 AM)David Horn Wrote: All those characteristics you define as 'male' are actually role models some embrace and others not.  But if anything has been learned in the past few decades, it's the fact that we're all different -- male and female alike.  There are uniquely female roles, childbearing being the most obvious, but uniquely male roes are less so, at least today.  Women can be brave, as Marina Ovsyannikova proved when she walked out on Russian TV with a sign protesting an intolerant tyrant.  On the other hand, many men and women shrink in the face of a challenge they should meet.  That's not a gender issue, though the method of meeting the challenge may be.  We men were endowed, by our own testosterone, with superior musculature; sometime that still matters.  But we shouldn't assume that we are all equally capable.  We aren't.

Women can be brave just like men can be empathetic, but there are more brave men and more empathetic women. The whole "we're not all equally capable" is kind of the point. Our general expectations should reflect this general difference in capability. You can have a general way in which you treat people while still making individual exceptions as they arise. For example, most of my female friends are pretty masculine. Their sense of humor is like a male, their emotional expression is more like a male, what they actually do in practice is more like a male, so I treat them more like how I treat my guy friends. To reiterate the previous point, the main issue I have with modern feminism is that they want all the privileges of being a man, all the privileges of being a woman, and the responsibilities of neither. Doctors, members of the armed forces, construction workers, etc all get a certain package of privileges that I don't, because they're willing to take on jobs that I don't and have competence that I don't. Likewise, men are generally willing to take on tasks that women don't want to or are less able to, and women are generally willing to take on tasks that men don't want to or are less able to. It's only logical we adjust the privileges and responsibilities we expect accordingly.

Quote:Here we'll have to agree on principle but disagree in practice.  We should all respect one another.  We don't always act that way.  Again, that's not a uniquely male role to fill.

you can respect both women and men while being cognizant that women are more likely to appreciate someone else having things under control.

I would rather put it that feminists want equal opportunity, rather than equal outcomes, in the various occupations.

We need more women in control. Feminism is right that this should be about equal. Women make more sane decisions, and are less inclined to enact or support policies that harm life than policies created by men.

Even if feminists are right about equality, we live in a country that privileges women far above men, saddles them with less responsibilities and grants them far more assistance. We need a swing in the other direction that celebrates masculinity, order, courage, authority and stoic decisiveness during hard times.

Well, this is the thread you started for controversial opinions. OK!

We disagree on this totally.

What you want a "swing" to is typical of fascist and authoritarian societies. We have already swung way too far in that direction over the last 40 years of neoliberalism and inequality.

George Monbiot mentions that neoliberals are quite "overt" about their opposition to democracy (about 1 1/2 minute in).
https://youtu.be/jOuzABjrAo4

"There are no examples in history of such an unequal society as ours that is not either in revolution or a police state" Nick Hanauer
https://youtu.be/scok7hEexCk?t=482

"We have endured 40 years of trickle-down economics, and that is why our democracy is disintegrating today" -- Nick Hanauer
https://youtu.be/scok7hEexCk?t=133

Watch the hard lessons of the "swing" you advocate.





If we want a better country, we'd better focus less on identity issues in general. If we do focus on them, we need to continue the movement toward greater equality and respect for all REGARDLESS of identity. We need to focus far more on containing or overturning tyranny and stopping assaults on democracy and human rights, here at home and around the world. We'd better focus on the enormous wealth gaps and the resulting social and health problems that are far worse in the USA than in any other developed country and in many less-developed ones too. This is a big crisis. And we'd better focus on securing our health and equal access to healthcare by whatever measures are workable and necessary. And most of all, we'd better focus on changing the way we relate to our environment and use energy, lest we leave those who come after us (including ourselves in coming decades, however long we remain here, and if we re-incarnate here, and where else would we want to reincarnate to, and do we want to spend another billion years in heaven or hell....????) with a planetary toxic junk heap hothouse, with no intelligent life on it anymore!!!!!