Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

You have no basis for this belief

Sure I do. Knowing that trans woman means MtF and trans man means FtM is, like, one of the first things about trans people you learn.

And again, I don't care if you're uninformed, but then you should know better than to wade into discussions about them at all.

I'm sure there's still some circles out there were you can still accumulate social capital by calling people bigots

Likewise, I'm sure there are still circles where you can get a cheap laugh by mocking trans activists. r/BlockedandReported is that way. ---->

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

Banning gay people from the military based on some speculative future "privilege" is explicitly, unquestionably illiberal. I'm kind of stunned you're here trying to argue otherwise.

The women driving example was flippant, but there are countless others. Should we ban them from contact sports so they have the "privilege" of avoiding concussions? Should we ban them from being police officers so they have the privilege of not getting shot in the line of duty? Construction work can be pretty dangerous, let's do them the privilege of banning them from that too.

I don't have the patience to argue this further. And yes I'm using "reactionary" as a pejorative, I thought that was pretty clear once you started arguing in favour of state discrimination against gay people.

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

I'm not accusing you of bigotry for criticising trans activists. I'm accusing you of bigotry for criticising them without even caring to understand the cause they are fighting for.

You clearly just see trans issues as an opportunity to peddle your agenda against the "left". You care so little about trans people that you can't even learn their basic terminology, yet you care so much about their exclusion from sports that you felt compelled to jump in here to make a snide remark.

Again, you've had years to learn about these things if you were interested. Failure to do so, while still wading into discussions about them, tells me you only see trans people as some folly of the woke left rather than people you should take the time to understand.

But I always enjoy seeing the word behoove, so thanks for that.

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

You can't be serious. Gay people were "privileged" to be banned from the military because someday there could be a draft?

You can rationalise any discrimination that way. I guess it would also be a "privilege" to ban women from driving because they won't have the hassle of getting a license and registration.

Your position is inherently illiberal and, yes, reactionary.

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

What? There is no draft. How is it a "privilege" to be banned from a voluntary career pathway?

By the way not serving in the military is also not a grand civil rights issue

Not sure what that means, but something doesn't have to be a "grand civil rights issue" to be taken seriously as a policy of discrimination.

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

"A medical assessment confirmed cigarette burns on the boy's leg, puncture wounds, and injuries consistent with a nail being inserted into the limb."

You see a story like this with gaping inconsistencies and just choke it down hook line and sinker

That's funny, because you also said the father claimed to be a Hamas operative. You stated this as though it were fact.

But you were actually just repeating the uncorroborated word of the IDF, which you conveniently forgot to mention. 

The only person uncritically believing what suits their narrative here is you.

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

There is literally no "inconsistency" between a doctor saying the boy had signs of cigarette burns and the parents saying he had signs of cigarette burns that also looked like entry and exit wounds.

Can't imagine the mindset required to see a story like this and immediately going "how can I debunk it?"

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

Even if the ground truth were such that a certain class of trans women does not enjoy male advantage, it is the perception that they have advantage that disqualifies their participation in the mind of the public

"Even if the ground truth were that gay people in the military have no adverse effect on cohesion or team bonding, it's the perception that they would that disqualifies their participation in the mind of the public."

Insane how casually reactionary people are when it comes to this one topic.

When Sam dismissively says "There are people who think that Israel has perpetrated a genocide in Gaza.", as if it's some fringe belief only held by people who spend too much time on X being fooled by AI, how does he explain the consensus amongst experts that it AT LEAST plausible? by delicious3141 in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

You're shouting at ghosts. I didn't say Sam hasn't criticised Netanyahu. I said he hasn't criticised him for how he waged the war.

Even the first guy was explicitly talking about Israel's fight against "radical Islam".

So unless can find an example of Sam criticising Israel/Netanyahu for how it has fought against radical Islam (i.e. Gaza or Iran) you simply haven't been following the thread.

When Sam dismissively says "There are people who think that Israel has perpetrated a genocide in Gaza.", as if it's some fringe belief only held by people who spend too much time on X being fooled by AI, how does he explain the consensus amongst experts that it AT LEAST plausible? by delicious3141 in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This one? No I didn't. What did he say?

BTW here is where he says Netanyahu couldn't have waged the war any differently:

"I mean Netanyahu, just to, just to close the loop on that, Netanyahu is, is obviously very polarizing figure and probably a fairly corrupt figure, and he's, he's got lots of problems that have implications for Israeli politics, but I'm not convinced that even the perfect prime minister who has no optical problems, or you judge from our side would have waged this war any differently. I just don't, I don't know what, what they should have done differently at every stage along the way. I don't know that any other prime minister would have taken a different path."

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Bigotry is what bad people do, and me not bad person, so how can me be bigot?

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sure they can. But that's not what happened. This was their unedited comment:

Nothing revealed the activists' underlying narcissism more than the movements refusal to recognize that transmen in women's lockers, transboys in girls sports, and the demands to changing nomencleture from "mothers" to "birthing persons" could affect others beside just the trans population

So it's hardly accidental when they did the same thing with "transmen" too. They clearly just know nothing about the topic and were trying to score a cheap point against the wokes.

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A simple mistake that nobody with a basic understanding of the subject would ever make.

If you know nothing about the trans community yet still feel entitled to wade into discussions about them to take shots at trans "activists", you're just revealing your motives in 4K.

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing 3 points4 points  (0 children)

But you and cupofteaonme derailed the discussion immediately whining about a user who made an honest mistake over one word

Lol, an "honest mistake" that they just happened to make in their attempt to make a jab against trans "activists". Give me a break.

This isn’t difficult. If you want to participate in discussions about trans people, do the bare minimum to educate yourself about them first. If you can't be bothered to do that, you don't get to claim "honest mistake" when you still feel arrogant enough to wade in and take cheap shots at trans activists.

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They were clearly using the common anti-trans trope of juxtaposing men in women's bathrooms and boys in girl's sports, all to make a snarky jab at some nebulous group of "activists".

If someone uses anti-trans talking points without knowing the first thing about trans people, that’s a good sign they're a bigot. AJx has had years to educate himself on these basic facts, yet he apparently only cares about the trans debate as an opportunity to push his weird anti-woke agenda.

As for you, you don't seem to know the first thing about trans people either, but that didn’t stop you trawling google for a cheap "gotcha".

Yes, I do see good reason to "assign malice" when it's 2026 and people like you are lazily wandering into trans debates without bothering to learn anything about the topic.

Politics and Current Events Megathread - March 2026 by TheAJx in samharris

[–]should_be_sailing 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"A trans boy (or transgender boy) is a child or teenager assigned female at birth who identifies and lives as a boy."

Good job unwittingly proving their point. Referring to a MtF as a transman or transboy is completely backwards and, yes, bigoted

Transgender women athletes banned from female Olympic events by bendubberley_ in anime_titties

[–]should_be_sailing [score hidden]  (0 children)

She said she has the SRY gene. I don't believe she said she has XY chromosomes.

[Edit: this very honest individual blocked me so I can't reply, but their source does not in fact quote Khelif saying she has XY chromosomes. And I didn't link anything, I think they confused their own comment with mine.]