📘 2+2=4 Vol. 4: Teaching, Therapy, Trans and Teens
Whether it be schools, universities or your therapist's couch: Speaking your mind freely without being met with political ideology has basically become impossible.
Second-wave feminists of the late 1960s once proclaimed: “The personal is political”. More than half a century later, this slogan has become reality in a way that these feminist activists would probably not have dreamed of even in their wildest dreams. Nowadays, seemingly everything that was once considered private has become politicized: from therapy sessions to the mental well-being of your own child down to the sex of your own body.
Whether this hybridization of the private and the public, of the personal and political, has truly been in our own best interest is open to question. I would argue that it has wreaked more havoc than it has done good. This week’s selection of articles shows how deeply intertwined the two spheres have become: Where therapy becomes a platform for political activism, where teaching (which has always been influenced by politics of course) becomes a platform for censoring unwanted political opinions instead of fostering critical thinking, and where the topic of your child’s sex is fused with political ideology, maybe it’s time to pause for a moment. Maybe it’s time we take certain things back into the private sphere where they belong.
#1 Taught for America
by Andrew X. Evans (Year Zero, published on May 21, 2023)
As a teacher myself, this testimonial by a former elementary school teacher hit home especially hard for me. Driven by the desire to finally tell the truth about his horrible day-to-day experiences at Richmond elementary in Baltimore from 2008 to 2010, Evans (who writes under a pseudonym) paints a detailled and unembellished picture of the harsh reality he encountered there: Children throwing chairs in the classroom, beating each other up, lacking any respect for their teachers and classmates, neglected by their parents, incapable of reaching a basic level of reading and arithmetic. The utter frustration, helplessness and despair in the face of absent parents, raging gang crime, serious poverty, constant violence and limited resources is palpable, and Evans doesn’t hold anything back, neither his own failures nor the failures of the people around him. This text had me gasping in shock and crying in sadness.
#2 How Therapists Became Social Justice Warriors
by Lisa Selin Davis (The Free Press, published on May 17, 2023)
The Free Press has done and is doing a fantastic job exposing the ideological capture of critical institutions in the US such as academia, education, the law and the medical field. This time, they focus on the ideological indoctrination of therapy. Combining personal accounts and impeccable research, Davis outlines how both the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) have effectively turned therapists into social warriors, encouraging them to inculcate their patients with current ideas of inherent privilege and victimhood. A lesbian patient, for example, was told by her therapist that she would always be oppressed due to the fact that she was homosexual and female (two “victimhood” categories) whereas a white school teacher (a more “privileged” position) was instructed to examine her own racism despite being heavily bullied herself. It goes without saying that politics and social activism have no place in therapy where people hope to find a safe space to discuss their most intimate issues without judgment. These days, however, seem to be over.
#3 Homophobia in drag
by Ben Appel (Spiked Online, published on May 14, 2023)
Ben Appel’s piece for Spiked Online is an important text insofar as someone who is actually part of the gay community (which, I know, is a term fraught with problems as Douglas Murray has repeatedly pointed out) describes his experience with the radical trans movement. Appel shows how the trans movement is indeed a homophobic wolf disguised in rainbow-colored clothing and how the medicalization of trans-identified people is “transing the gay away”: It is no secret that many trans-identified teens would, if left alone, grow up to be gay or lesbian. Appel aptly concludes: “If [being called a transphobic bigot is] what speaking out against the medicalisation of homosexuality makes me, then so be it.”
#4 Back from the other side
by Helene (PITT, published on May 15, 2023)
Detransitioners are people who were once identifying as transgender, but have “desisted” and now identify as being of their actual biological sex again. One such desistance story is told in this both heart-breaking and uplifting essay by a formerly trans-identifying girl called Helene. Talking from her own experience, Helene’s account is one of hope. She lets us peer into the mind of a formerly gender-confused child, letting parents know how absolutely vital their role is in getting their child back on the right path, even if it seems impossible. This is a powerful read and one that needs to be shared.
(P.S.: By the way, my story about a trans-identifying student who also desisted (thank God!) was published on PITT this week: “Let Them Kids Alone”)
#5 The Best Life Lesson for a Teen Is a Job
by James Bovard (Brownstone Institute, published on May 26, 2023)
With mental health issues among teenagers skyrocketing, there is no denying the fact that society has been on a rather destructive path for decades, a path that doesn’t seem to make us more content but rather profoundly unhappy. Bovard makes a very interesting connection between the rise in mental health diagnoses among teens and the decline of teenagers working side jobs or summer jobs. In Western societies, we shield teenagers from the inconveniences of work (which certainly exist) instead of teaching them the value of hard work, of earning your own money and of being able to contribute something to society. A job also teaches you valuable lessons about the importance of diligence, responsibility, accountability, teamwork and solidarity – all of which can be powerful antidotes to mental distress.
#6 At High School Debates, Debate Is No Longer Allowed
by James Fishback (The Free Press, published on May 25, 2023)
In another excellent article from The Free Press this week, former debate coach and current CEO (and founder) of Incubate Debate James Fishback sheds some light on the current state of high school debating in the US. Again, the ideological capture of institutions like the National Debate & Speech Association (NSDA) is shocking: Many of its judges publicly proclaim that arguments which go against their own opinion (e.g. arguments that are pro-Israel, pro-capitalism, against illegal immigration, against BLM, etc.) will not be accepted. But if you have to cater to your judges’ personal opinions in order to win a debate, then the idea of free debate – and, by extension, free speech – is reduced to absurdity.
#7 Nearly Impossible Conversations
by Peter Boghossian (Beyond Woke with Peter Boghossian, published on May 12, 2023)
Just as free debate is being stifled in high schools, so it is at universities. Peter Boghossian, a former philosophy professor at Portland State University who became famous for the Sokal Squared hoax and finally quit over his university’s illiberal policies, has been trying to foster debate by touring US universities and engaging people in conversations. This month, he returned to his former university in Portland with child protection activist Chris Elston and YouTube commentator James Klug, trying to have conversations about the ethical implications of the medical transition of children. Debate was impossible, however, as PSU students and faculty members tried to prevent Boghossian and his team from speaking. I do encouage everyone to read this article and watch the videos to get an idea of the disgraceful state of academia where free debate is not encouraged anymore but choked off.
📘 2+2=4 Vol. 3: First Do No Harm
These days, I am often reminded of a famous phrase from the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789, one of the most important documents of the Age of Enlightenment. Its fourth article states: “Liberty consists of doing anything which does not harm others.”
Thank you for compiling this great list in one handy place. A couple technical things: I think you mean “half a century later” not half a decade. Also havoc is wreaked, not wrecked. https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/pardon-the-expression/wreak-havoc-vs-wreck-havoc/#:~:text=It%20derives%20from%20wrecan%2C%20an,a%20violent%20destruction%20or%20disturbance. Going to read that Peter Boghossian article now... 🙏🏼
Interesting observations and links again. Though one might reasonably suggest that each of your tales are also cases where the personal has become the political ... 😉🙂 Nature of the beast.
However, what the hell is a "former trans-identifying girl called Helene"? A penis-having transwoman who still calls himself "Helene"? An ovary-haver and vagina-haver named Helene who desisted from calling herself a transman?
As Francis Bacon put it, "Therefore shoddy and inept uses of words lays siege to the intellect in wondrous ways". Though I'm not sure that "wondrous" is all that accurate. "Rather depressing" or "tower-of-Babel-ish" might be more so ...