About trans rights:
They're a wedge issue. If you think it's okay to deprive trans people of the right to exist in the public sphere then you're saying human rights are conditional and/or can be withdrawn. Which puts you on a slippery slope to no human rights for anyone.
When you trace the roots of the modern anti-trans movement they boil down to some combination of bigotry and billionaire bullshit— the oligarchs think rights are for the rich.
So: trans-rights are human rights. No exceptions.
@cstross I've seen people I thought were otherwise reasonable say insane shit like "trans women shouldn't be allowed to compete in women's sports," and I'm like, why is this stupid shit so effective in turning people into idiots. Let people compete wherever they want. Who fucking cares.
Trans rights ARE human rights!
@Photo55 male view? in true sports without arbitrary restrictions as i describe it would be unlikely any mere human male would ever be allowed to compete by the insurance company, at least without the kind of drug and cybernetic augmentation that would render whatever edge their genetics granted them a rounding error.
after all, if you entered a weightlifting competition, you'd need to compete against construction cranes. a pack of wolves in rugby. a jetboat in swimming. any team size, any technology, any tactic to achieve the base goal without any further restrictions. sport would finally achieve its true potential without these endless whiny babies trying to say 'whats allowed' and 'whats cheating’
@leon
Aha, _true_ potential.
Not just a bunch of children running because it is fun, and seeing who goes fastest because: primates.
I think your idea has transcended sport.
It is a different thing, beyond.
It implies that human sport would then form a category or cluster of categories. Because, for one reason, it is no _fun_ weightlifting against a crane.
@Photo55 I dunno, it’s fun for the shareholders for the winning crane company, and fun for the engineers, and fun for workers who get better cranes and people who get better buildings
if you want to lift weights on your own time cool I’m not here to kinkshame no one but if you want it to be your job you’ve got to do the best you can without arbitrary restrictions
Like if you’re a doctor (in most of the world) you’re not stopped from proscribing a drug because it’s too safe and effective because it’s “unsporting” for the disease right? Your job is to save people. But if your job is to get to the end of a pool for some reason you can’t use good swimmers that make you faster or a jet boat. Or use an air cannon to launch a ball at a net if your job is to get the ball into the net. Every gold medal, every trophy has an asterix, “under these specific circumstances, using only a certain arbitrary amount of human ingenuity and strategy some old men are comfortable with”
It’s time for us to grow up
Charlie Stross
Legit_Spaghetti
MidgePhoto
Leon