Matthew

USAID is a foreign policy superpower of US global influence despised by dictators. Russia is obviously a big winner here and China will swoop in as replace the US in many corners of the world. Also Trump has seemingly changed his tune on Taiwan compared to his first term, opening the door for their annexation of that island. And remember the 60% tarrif on China candidate trump promised, now just at 10%. Plus a lot of major US imports from China come through Mexico anyway. Plans to cede renewable energy tech market to China etc It would hardly be possible to more aggressively benefit China's long term path towards becoming the global hegemon.

Ok let's look at this list: - In most states it is legal for parents to t a child drink alcohol in their own home. - Adolecents can legally start driving even as young as at 14 in most states. This is probably the most risky activity they will do. - Letting a teenager smoke even at home is unlawful in most places, but a parent smoking in a room or in a car with their child is legal. - Most teens have watched online pornography and Ive never heard of a parent being prosecuted for allowing it or not sufficiently preventing it. - Parents can allow their kids to watch movie, video game, tv show. - Teenagers as young as 14 are legally working and can legally do some dangerous jobs like in agriculture and meat packing plants (in my state the republicans recently relaxed the child labor laws to make sure they could). - Also you left out sports. Some widespread sports like football have a high percentage of permanent injury and they are not only legal but subsidized by school district taxpayers. Point being, if your argument is that the health risk is too high for any teenager, I think that IS a reasonable thing to focus on but in all these things you listed our society allows discretion for teenagers to do the risky life-altering thing. So why in this one case do you think the government needs to override teenagers and parents individual freedom to decide their own life? Here in Iowa the law was SF 496. One of several anti-trans laws. The law forbids mental health screenings without explicit parental consent. So if a kid is in a crappy home and experiencing a mental health crisis, their irresponsible, checked-out, or even abusive parents aren't going sign a permission slip to allowing the school to ask them questions about their mental wellbeing. Insofar as I don't believe anyone is inherently transgender. I have no problem with promoting a public health policy that treats alternative gender ideas as a personal belief, albeit an extreme and potentially risky one. Treating it as a leftist woke disease or whatever the political propaganda is, and having a policy of trying to wipe out an idea, suggests that the goal is social control and social engineering.

I completely agree. Which makes your situation even more dire.

Yes, teenagers start making decisions that impact their future lives and health. Getting jobs, driving cars, sexual activity, joining the military, getting jobs, playing sports with high chance of lifelong injury etc. As a general principle, is it the job of government to outlaw teenagers from decision-making involving risky behavior? Yep I get it. I do think there is an age at which it should never be done. But then there is a point at which government coersion over an adolecent with parental consent becomes too intrusive. No in this case I'm refering to state laws that have banned ALL mental health screening in schools. Which is very ironic because whenever a school shooting happens republicans like to say it's a mental health issue which needs to be the policy focus. But then they also make it illegal for schools to ask students about despression, isolation, and suicidal thoughts. Attacked and belittled with insults, demeaning language, and often physically. Made illegal by being the target of many, many laws that make it more difficult for them to live life. Described as a conscious desease by calling them or their experience a contagen and mental disease.

Personal attacks are a cultural norm of this forum due to lax moderation. I mean decent in terms being principled, independent thinkers, able to develop quality arguments based upon sound information rather than made-up self-serving partisan propaganda narratives. There are always the rabble of weak-minded loyal sloganeers, but 15-20 years ago a well- established forum like this would have had a core of at least a half dozen free thinking stalwart conservatives. Every bit as much as vaccines do, or compulsory education, or anti child-labor laws. Sometimes it's ok for the government to use its authority to demand or prohibit a certain thing for children. A lot of parents have dumb idea about gender. The wacko mom refusing to gender her toddler is failing just as much as the wacko father beating his 12 year old son for crying. It's reasonable to have the government limit what can be done to small kids, but teenagers are of an age where they should start to have a say over their future. Making laws about what treatment teenagers with their parents consent can get, or outlawing mental health services in schools, or outlawing what names have to be used against people's will are moves that directly impose authoritarian limits on things that should reasonably be up to individual and parental choice. Let's assume that these alternative gender ideas are simply a cultural belief that you find false. I am sure you have cultural beliefs that are important to you and your identity. And you would certainly take umbrage to having your beliefs and your identity attacked, belittled, made illegal, described as contagious disease. Some in this thread have suggested that ridiculing and shaming these people is the only way to stop it.

Nope, I don't think it is meaningless to argue about. Three reasons: 1. I don't generally need to know anyone's opinion on any issue and so I don't go around giving unsolicited declarations of my own opinions unless asked. 2. When I did start posting in this thread. CdnFox instantly misrepresented my views with nonsense based on his false assumption of what he figured I believed. Why interrupt a perfect case study in his M.O. 3. Look around. There are no decent conservatives here for a reason. Nobody who is both normal in the head and literate wants to be associated with that. While I don't think transgender identity is a real thing beyond individuals imagination, the societal default should still be toward freedom and respecting people's self determination. Right wing rehtoric is so hateful and intent on using authoritarian methods that the only possible consequence over the next century will be the massive acceptance of transgender ideology. Which, yes is super dumb, but the Republicans of the 2020s couldn't help themselves.

Absolutely. And here in this topic i have pretty close to the same opinion as you, though for maybe different reasons, and Im not a dick about it. But you and fox are such rock bottom trash losers that you find meaningless stuff to argue about without even the slightest attempt to engage with reality.

Aka you begged me for a conversation about a topic i have no opinion on. I've never claimed anything to be legitimate or not legitimate. So, you're either thinking of someone else or just lying as usual.

That's just what they cost right now temporarily due to bird flu. Insulin only costs a few dollars to make and they have been charging hundreds of dollars per vial for decades before democrats finally fixed it. Sounds dumb. Sometimes in a democracy some of your money goes towards stuff you think is dumb. For example in Trumps first term he spent 307 days on golf outings. That's almost 25% of his presidency and you paid for that too. People like to come to the US. Yes the system for controlling and managing that should be better. Trump stopped a major bill from passing because it wanted the problem to be worse. Nonsense. There is sex mentioned in lots of good literature. Actual etrotica should not be in schools but what republicans are doing is hurting English language education. I know READING teachers who have taken all books out of their classroom just to avoid the hassle republicans have done to them to catalogue it all. Just because republicans think kids are leaning about gay stuff from the school books rather than from the whole society and the internet.

Yup. That sums up most of the sad Smeagol-esque right wing losers here. They've lost the power of normal human connection. It's why they hang out here all the time even on holidays and such.

I pay out of pocket for insulin for an uninsured loved one and it went from almost $400 per vial down to $30 per vial thanks to the Democrats. Whoever owns the Republicans would never have let that gem through.

If either of you guys think these billionaires are working on your behalf, the joke is obviously going to be on you.

That's fair. I'm just saying that for the record myata does not escape criticism.

The real problem will certainly end up being billionaires needing the federal government to help make themselves richer at our expense. All the fake culture war and immigration stuff is just to keep the rubes like you mobilized and nothing with that stuff will fundamentally change.

I have criticized myata's threads. Neither of you seem like reasonable people.

Let's see, your last ones turned out to be misleading propaganda. So now I'm inclined to think that you're not a good judge of reality.

Parents choiiiiice!!!

I've never had any particularly radical notions about gender. Though m0rons like you certainly make adopting new gender ideas more appealing.

Maybe you see yourself playing dumb games but aside from some poetic licence for humor I answer directly and honestly and have no no need for the fake BS non-sequitur non-responses that you rely on.

Wow are you even conscious right now? Me to CdnFart: You like to comment on your own imagination CdnFart: That's true Me: glad you agree CdnFart: What? Your taking me out of context. Me: The context is that i said you like to comment on your imagination Meth User, having a seizure: YoUrE FaBrCaTiNg LiiiEs!! Me: Such as what? Meth User, mouth foaming: SeEE NoW yOu'Re PlAyInG DuMb!

Nothing again. So predictable. I always call you out on these little pointless lies you love to interject and you always have nothing.

Which thing is "fabricated?"

I literally just did and you ran away from it because you can't handle any form of nuance. Youre not just lazy but also a coward. You beg me to talk to you and then run away from anything complicated.

The context was me saying that you respond purely to your own imagination. It's not complicated.

Nope you didn't. Not one. You asked me about the word "legitimate" as if I had made some claim hinging on that word, maybe confusing me with someone else. What i did say is that "people tend to think that if one is not born with a thing in one's DNA or physically in their body or brain, then the thing is not real or legitimate." That's not me making a claim about legitimacy, Im commenting on all these people fixated on that concept. So asking me to define it is pointless as I have no belief about the legitimacy of a gender.