basically i think the longterm consequence of "born this way" politics is to reduce politically tolerated identities to those that are well enough represented to not need to be imagined (people are largely incapable of imagining being different than they are)
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empathy is a terrible basis for politics because the benefits of claims to empathy far outweigh the benefits of actually having it, and come with few or no substantive costs.
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the consequence is that media representation becomes the battleground for future toleration. if something can be represented often enough in a sufficiently harmless and/or sexually exotic way, it can be made to seem natural.
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rather than operate from principles (such as allowing people to do what they will with their bodies and consenting partners), we have chosen to make every aspect of our increasingly media-driven lives political because we are unwilling to practice empathy or embrace pragmatism.
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conservatives will lose such a fight, just as they will prove unable to put the genie back in the bottle. reactionaries, being distasteful and intolerant of many vices which common people like for themselves, will do no better.
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the point is that what actually is "natural" is immaterial. it is the claim to naturalness, which is always mediated by communications technology more than by some kind of socio-biological study, which matters and which will consequently expand with technological advance.
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Replying to @thesravaka
this seems roughly correct but also incomplete in some important ways unfortunately it seems this way in ways i cant explicate so this probably isnt a helpful observation
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Replying to @eigenrobot
i am happy to discuss to help you explore what you're working from
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Replying to @thesravaka
i think maybe part of the issue is im so tired of the topic at some internal place that im not actually able to make any thoughts cohere this is not a complaint about your thread which i like a lot. im just trying to engage and the gear keeps slipping :)
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Replying to @eigenrobot
exhaustion is reasonable. i think you may also be burned out, as i am. i'm trying to dial down my scope on here for the near term (also, big event is next weekend)
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yeah i gotta wrap up this job. good luck on your side :)
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