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Page added on May 16, 2016
Kunstler: Border Lines
If the Obama Justice Department was really honest about its “guidance” on transgender bathrooms, it would have stated clearly a requirement to provide a new, separate, third category of bathroom or changing room for people identifying themselves as transgender. This would have given such persons a safe, private place to perform their necessary bio-functions without making the other two categories of people, male and female, uncomfortable.
Actually, such a third option already exists in many public places: the handicapped bathroom. These could easily be relabeled “Handicapped and Transgender” — the main feature of them being that they allow for one-person-at-a-time occupancy, obviating any effect on others. And it wouldn’t require expensive renovation of public buildings.
But no, Mr. Obama’s DOJ decided to antagonize large numbers of males and females by coercing them to consort with transgender people, threatening to take away federal school funding if they didn’t allow persons of ambiguous sexuality to use whichever bathroom they felt like.
This reveals the fantastic smug certainty of the political Left in assuming that such matters as the nature of transgender behavior are adequately understood and settled — for instance, that transgender is actually a real sexual category rather than a psychological disturbance, a developmental problem, an extreme fashion statement, or a fantasy. I’m not at all persuaded that this is settled, despite the pervasive wishful thinking of the social justice corps that it were so.
It should be clear after some years of social justice hysteria in this country that coercion is now the method of choice on the Left side of the culture war battlefield: you must believe what we believe, or face punishment. As a Vietnam-era registered Democrat I hugely resent this oppressive political approach. I resent even more the supposed public intellectuals and thought leaders in government, academia, and the media who go along with this despotic conduct — which includes ruining the livelihoods and careers of respectable colleagues among them.
Though I am not generally sympathetic to the extreme political Right, especially its evangelical arm which adopted coercive and punitive tactics well before the Left did, I think the governors of North Carolina and Texas have a case in this new transgender bathroom dispute, though I hope their lawyers argue it on some basis besides scripture and sheer boobish obstinacy.
You may have noticed that more and more we live in a society where anything goes and nothing matters. We got there through the incremental eradication of boundaries, especially in social categories and behaviors. Some people find this exhilarating and others find this disturbing. I happen to believe that the elimination of boundaries is not altogether a good thing. We would probably benefit, I think, from more and firmer boundaries than squishier and fewer of them.
Despite the fact that a lot of people I associate with are arty types of what used to be called liberal inclination, I was not in favor of gay marriage, and said so — and was scalded with censorious opprobrium for it . Considering what I know, for instance, about the unintended consequences and diminishing returns of technology, I did not consider it a small thing to meddle with social institutions that are truly older than history. We don’t know what the eventual effects of gay marriage on the social order will be anymore than we knew that the consequences of “Atoms for Peace” would be Chernobyl and Fukushima. Things happen in history because they seem like a good idea at the time. Then time passes and we find out differently.
I was in favor of civil unions for gay couples, since the disposition of chattels and property is not a small matter in a broken partnership, as are medical issues and the care of children entailed in these partnerships, and some method of adjudication was obviously needed. But it was not necessary to call it marriage. Why make the distinction? For the basic reason that not all things and conditions of things are exactly the same. That is exactly the problem with the sort of extreme relativism that reigns on the Left these days. Anything goes.
In fact, I suspected then and still do that the crusade for gay marriage was more a seeking of official state approbation for homosexual behavior as much as a legal issue. In other words, it was about feelings — which has become the basis of argument for practically everything in our politics these days. Anyone disagreeing with those feelings was labeled a “homophobe,” and their ideas on the matter could be simply dismissed as a phobia, a terrible fear, a bad feeling rather than a reasoned position about the workings of society. I was not phobic or fearful about people who identified as gay. But I didn’t then and still don’t believe that we completely understand that behavior, and that it is a settled matter — contrary to the shibboleths of the moment.
The case is similar with transgender. We only pretend to know what it’s about because doing so affords comfortable feelings of superiority — that we are better people for going along with it because the transit of human progress is ever upward, and we are on the cutting edge of that journey to utopia. I don’t happen to buy that story, anymore than I believe that an “installation” of plastic vomit on the floor of the Whitney Museum is as much a work of art as Edouard Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass.
America has a boundary problem and boundary problems are disturbing both to individuals and societies. A common feature of societies in decline is a preoccupation with sexual freakishness, which is on display incessantly in this Republic of Twerking and in the much-valorized “sexual subversion” celebrated in the arts. The Obama government does a huge disservice to this dangerously declining nation by provoking even more dissolution of social boundaries at a time when we have so many other converging problems of polity to contend with.
This is the great contradiction, by the way, of Donald Trump. He has captured the attention of so many voters by invoking the case of our “broken border” with Mexico — a political boundary that is simple enough for most citizens to understand. But Trump himself actually operates by smashing the boundaries erected by his own party for acceptable political conduct. Thus, Trump perfectly personifies the nation’s essential predicament: America has a borderline personality. It is a danger to itself and others.
29 Comments on "Kunstler: Border Lines"
eugene on Mon, 16th May 2016 8:22 am
Kunstler can believe as he likes and deny being a homophobe all he likes but homosexuality is part of nature. He is free to have an opinion but needs to clarify he knows absolutely nothing about sexuality beyond his own behavior. His opinions are definitely well within the realm of the Western worlds obsessive focus on being the only opinion allowed based on rigid Christian beliefs.
onlooker on Mon, 16th May 2016 9:01 am
I am surprised Kunstler delves so much into this. It is political fodder nothing else. As no relevance to the important issues.
makati1 on Mon, 16th May 2016 9:01 am
Equal under the law is all that is required. All of this “feely fluff” is to distract the sheeple from the fact that they are being sheared and prepared for the butcher. Homosexual and transgender people are as old as mankind. Nothing new there. It can be observed in the animal kingdom also, and is part of life. Only some religions differentiate and try to make it go away. Too bad most are not smart enough to get educated about the real world around us.
bluesman on Mon, 16th May 2016 9:42 am
I agree with onlooker. The idea is to drive a wedge between Trump and the Republican party. Remember that Trump’s response to NC was to invite Kaitlin Jenner to use the women’s room at Trump Towers. A brilliant move, though it did increase my cynicism of politics.
Apneaman on Mon, 16th May 2016 10:56 am
I guess it’s true that many get more conservative (rigid stupid) as they get older. Kuntsler’s longings for a return to his fantasy golden age are becoming ever more frequent and ridiculous.
The kunt is just one more sexually repressed white merican and the idea of any “sexual category” is a joke.
The talk of tradition is a joke and cherry picked to support the judeo christian repressed belief system. I always get a kick out of the thousands of merician hyper masculine football teams named after the Spartans. The ultimate warriors for sure who just happened to suck each others dicks and pack each others fudge. It was mandatory. Why not adopt that tradition for the football team too?
Temple prostitution is also a social institution that long predates the jew christian god – lets bring that back too. In some societies women did it as service before they got married – it was considered an honor.
Transgender is nothing new either. History and other cultures are rife with examples of all sorts of different forms of sexuality and gender benders. There is no normal and never was. There is great “psychological disturbance” though and it’s from all these people trying to categorize everything (control) on both sides of the US cultural wars. And the homophobes, like the kunt, are hilarious when one understands what may be one of the root causes of their repression and obsession with the matter.
Homo Say What?
Are homophobes secretly gay? A new study purports to prove it.
“Could scientists ever demonstrate that, as Freud suggested, homophobes are reacting to subconscious, gay urges? Maybe if there were some more direct way to measure a man’s private sexual desires, we’d be able to tell for sure whether he was a closet homo. Imagine if you put a bunch of homophobes and more tolerant straight people into a room and forced them to watch man-on-man sex films while measuring the size of their erections with some kind of circumferential strain gauge. Would the gay-haters be revealed by the size of their boners?
Good news: This exact study was carried out in the mid-1990s at the University of Georgia. Using penile plethysmography, researchers compared the erectile responses of 35 homophobes and 29 non-homophobes to pornographic films in various gender configurations. All the men were clearly aroused by the lesbian and straight porn, but their sexual responses differed when it came to the gay clips. Around three-quarters of the guys in the homophobic group experienced some engorgement—not nearly as much as they’d had watching other clips, but enough to be labeled as either “moderately” or “definitely tumescent” by the researchers. In the non-homophobic group, the proportion was just one-third.”
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/04/homophobic_maybe_you_re_gay_the_new_york_times_on_a_new_study_of_secret_sexuality_.html
C’mon Jim it’s 2016 in transgendered America, it’s ok go have your fun – fullfill your desires. No one will judge you………………….cocksucker.
JuanP on Mon, 16th May 2016 11:05 am
WTF? I had no idea there was an issue regarding this. There are more important things to write about. I don’t care what people do to their bodies or who they have sex with as long as all involved are consenting adults. Time to go to the garden again.
PracticalMaina on Mon, 16th May 2016 11:07 am
So that’s why Republicans in congress are always into that closed door gay stuff. Science always seems to be against those guys….
jjhman on Mon, 16th May 2016 11:41 am
It’s sad that an issue like this wanders into the political arena. It seems that the Repubs find some trivial social issue to use as a wedge and the Dems have to react, probably, just as the Repubs wanted. Then we get to use up a whole bunch of energy on that issue instead of something important that would require both parties to solve problems caused by their benefactors.
Bathrooms? If a male predator wants to dress up like a girl and go into a bathroom to ogle he can do that today. It probably already happens often and nobody notices. Writing laws, writing threatening letters to politicians writing laws isn’t going to change the behavior of creeps.
simonr on Mon, 16th May 2016 1:05 pm
Caveat — Old Tired, Disinterested, awkward
Homosexuality is part of nature … point being ?
Spartans .. Really .. Citation ?
Homophobes .. This is simply a preference for a type of behaviour.
if homosexuality is natural and historic, so is Homophobia (Julius Cesar was suspected as being the ‘girl’ in a gay relationship, this brought dishonour on him and his family)
Given that Homophobia is ancient, and unrelated to Judaism then surely the argument that natural is acceptable is spurious at best.
We are left with two types of behaviour.
Take your pick, but don’t fool yourself that your preference is in any way valid for anyone but yourself.
however after all the oil runs out, then errrrrr (compulsory Peak Oil Content)
Tumbleweeds on Mon, 16th May 2016 2:21 pm
Kunstler outs himself as a homophobe (surprise, surprise). I wonder if he is also a voyeur? I have never noticed or given a thought to transgendered people in “my” designated washroom, why would that change now? How would I even know? When I go to the washroom, I am focused on my business, not someone else’s. Come to think of it, I think I would pretty creeped out if Kunstler came into the washroom and started checking out my business.
Cloud9 on Mon, 16th May 2016 6:54 pm
I’ve looked at the plumbing. It was designed for a specific purpose. Whatever your personal fantasies and foibles are it is none of my business. What you do on your own time is your business. Just don’t pee down my leg and tell me it’s raining. I am too old and too ugly to figure in your fantasies whatever they may be. I was propositioned from both sides of the isle in my youth. I was polite. A gay music teacher taught my son to play. I attended every session. A lesbian couple invited us to their wedding. We sent a gift. We were out of the country at the time. Touch the little ones in my family and I will execute you with a sand blaster. Other than that live your life as you see fit.
rdberg1957 on Tue, 17th May 2016 12:11 am
Actually, transgender folks haven’t been going the bathroom in public for the last 200 years. They just hold it in and wait till they get home.
Anonymous on Tue, 17th May 2016 12:14 am
americant politicians love non-issues like TG bathrooms. It gives them a chance to look kind and benevolent at home while they deploy weapons and war and wage covert and overt wars that kill and impoverish millions. Of course, no one pays much attention to movement of americas death squads around the globe, but they do pay a LOT of attention to what ‘obama’ is ready to do help his nations beleaguered legions of TG types that have nowhere to pee.
Sparring over trivial bits of hot-button social policy is highly refined art in North America. The outcomes of these basically useless fights is not remotely important. Distraction politics is what is is.
makati1 on Tue, 17th May 2016 3:09 am
If you live there, you might not notice the water in the pot getting hotter…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-16/guest-post-stunning-parallels-between-united-states-and-nazi-germany
“Most Americans may not like to hear this, but the truth is that modern day America very closely resembles Nazi Germany. If you initially recoiled when you read the headline to this article, that is understandable. After all, most of us were raised to deeply love this country. But I would ask you to consider the evidence that I have compiled before you pass judgment on the matter. Most citizens of this nation know that something has gone deeply wrong, and I would suggest that just like the Nazis, all of the pageantry and beauty in our society masks an evil which has grown to a level that is almost unspeakable. And just like the Germans, we don’t do ourselves any favors by turning a blind eye to what is going on. The following are 10 stunning parallels between the United States and Nazi Germany…”
How soon before goose stepping and “papers” to travel? Tomorrow? Today?
theedrich on Tue, 17th May 2016 3:36 am
It is a bizarre fact that that many people on this site are resistant to well-known biological and evolutionary facts. It seems they prefer religious fairy tales and pop-psychological “explanations” rather than reality, just as they do in every other area of life.
To begin with: all vertebrates are conceived as females. It is testosterone which, developing in response to the existence of the Y-chromosome, turns the basic template into a male.
This change is a tricky process, since any variation from the base involves the possibility of error. Seen biologically, it is a difficult process to become a male — and to remain alive as one. Mother Nature knows this, and so produces more males than females, since from her point of view males are expendable. Among humans, if memory serves, about 104 boys are born for every 100 girls, then the numbers become even about age 24, and thereafter females predominate more and more, also living longer on average. Even more males are conceived, but they are miscarried in the womb much more frequently than females.
Males are also less stable not only physically but also mentally, there being a preponderance of males among those with severe psychological and mental handicaps. Nature is mainly concerned with the continuation not of the individual but of the species, and so endows the females with more protections of all sorts, because they are the life-bearers. Males, on the other hand, serve mainly as sperm donors to, and protectors of, the females.
The process of conversion into a male can be divided more or less into three critical, successive stages: (1) evolution of the organs of generation; (2) mating orientation; (3) gender-specific behavior development. All of these stages depend on an appropriate flow, or lack thereof, of testosterone.
The first stage determines whether we will be “physically” a male or female (penis/vagina, secondary sexual characteristics, etc.).
The second stage determines which sex we will be sexually, erotically and emotionally attracted to.
The third stage determines our emotional and even motor proclivities, for instance, the “limp wrist” of females, the “boldness” typical of men, the preference for elegant interior decor among women, their attraction to young children and cutsy things, etc., the outdoorsy preferences of men (which a great many women in our society despise), etc.
In normal development, the production of testosterone in all three stages is high for males but low for females. But as mentioned, fetal development is a risky process. If for some reason (defective maternal biology, sickness, inadequate diet, narcotics, etc., etc.) the testosterone levels vary considerably, all kinds of things can happen. This is why about 2%-3% of the human population varies from the sexual norm.
If, for example, there is adequate testosterone in the first stage, inadequate in the second stage, and adequate again in the third, you will have a male, externally speaking, but he will be sexually attracted to other males, while he will otherwise act and show interests like a standard male.
If you have, say a high-low-low individual, then he will be a homosexual male who has female behaviorisms. He will probably also be unable to pronounce the American “L”-sound, so that he will pronounce the word “dollar” more or less like “dower” — a good example being the recently retired homosexual congressman, Barney Frank. Because we are talking about brain development here, not religion.
Conversely, if you have a low-high-high scenario, you will get a physical female who is a lesbian with masculine traits, including a higher sex drive.
Thus there are all kinds of “sexes,” if you will. They are not bad people, although Mother Nature and human society have cultural as well as biological reasons for not making them their primary choices. Some may view it as unfortunate that many people are born with unusual properties, but that does not mean that tyrannical Leftists are entitled to give them citizens’ money via the government and its force. One can feel sorry for “transgendered” types and hope that they have much better adult lives than they have had as children and teenagers, and can be confident that they are good people.
But giving the name “marriage” to homosexual liaisons is not a good idea. There are three cogent arguments against it:
1. Predominance of the principle that emotions should override rational behavior.
2. The idea that men and women are interchangeable, there being no difference between them.
3. The complete divorce of recreational sex from reproductive sex.
So although one may be sympathetic to the situation homosexuals (and “bisexuals,” etc.) find themselves in, it is most unwise to overturn the well-tested practice of thousands of years of standard male-female marriage (including polygamy!) for current fads. The United States and its idiocies may not be around in another century, and it is inadvisable for its propaganda on this issue to become some kind of new religious cult — or maybe to help the Mohammedans, who seem to prefer cornholing to normal sex.
Finally, the psychotic idea of forcing women to endure the presence of biological males who, because of their own fetal development, feel like females, and vice versa, is merely another despotic Leftist maneuver meant to show the majority of human beings that their own practices and wishes are of no account; only the brain embolisms of the extreme Left matter. It also needs to be said that, while all of this culture war is being waged on humanity, the attention of the majority of Americans is being diverted from the Grand Theft National Treasury being perpetrated by the compost heap headed by the Negro and the Bitch of Benghazi. It would be nice if the deranged Supreme Court and the power-mad Executive branch in D.C. could be restrained in their lunge for absolute power. But given the massive corruption so deeply entrenched in the federal government, there seems little chance that this will happen.
Go Speed Racer on Tue, 17th May 2016 6:20 am
What about all the republican senators
at the airport who do homo acts between
flights in the men’s room stall.
They should have a special bathroom too, so Obama’s bathroom law should have 4 types of bathroom,
Male
Female
Transgender
Gay airport senators
Go Speed Racer on Tue, 17th May 2016 6:25 am
Need total 4 types of bathroom. Pass the law.
Important congressional business.
Hillary fully
Supports the legislation to have 4 types of bathroom.
Also no more flushing cherry bombs
down the toilets at school.
Way too 1950’s. Now show lots of compassion.
And pass a law against men’s room graffiti.
It will be a felony to write on the walls of the toilet
stall and each user of the bathroom must sign
A federal form agreeing not to do so.
The form will be filed annually with your tax return.
Go Speed Racer on Tue, 17th May 2016 6:33 am
The airport senator bathroom stalls have to be
wide enough for two senators especially if one is
overweight and the dimensions will be set by
OSHA committee and all airports nationwide
must comply.
And you were wondering why ISIS wants to blow us up?
makati1 on Tue, 17th May 2016 6:47 am
Thee, your biological explanation for the sexual drive variations were spot on. Then you wander into psychobabble with twisted interpretations based on your own feelings about the subjects of gay speech, marriage, etc.
Did you ever consider that many of these sexual orientation and physical “variations” might just be the result of our polluted world? After all, the air we breath, the water we drink and the food we eat is full of chemical and biological pollution that includes many hormones and poisons that can not be good for our bodies physically or mentally.
In another vein…
“Making public facilities accessible to diverse populations has long been a divisive issue. Gender segregated restrooms in the United States and Europe are a vestige of the Victorian era where women’s modesty and safety were considered at risk and under constant need of surveillance and discipline” WIKI
“French women are the females least likely to feel uncomfortable sharing with the other sex – 40% said they are comfortable with using a unisex toilet in public, 38% of American and British women agreed.”
https://today.yougov.com/news/2013/09/13/unisex-toilets-british-women-most-reluctant-share-/
Bathrooms are a modern convenience that will also fade away as pressurized water systems become impossible. That tree with the big leaves will soon be the norm. LOL
PracticalMaina on Tue, 17th May 2016 8:54 am
Very good point Makati, I saw an article recently about fish in Northeasestern rivers switching from male to female due to hormones in the water. Soy, birth control, even chemicals in receipt paper are all very chemically similar to estrogen and other hormones. I had a PHD student, some type of biochemistry, tell me about the receipt paper, very bad for women, and the chemical can pass easily threw your skin.
PracticalMaina on Tue, 17th May 2016 8:56 am
But we worry about the safety of people in Target bathrooms, even though people were getting raped and robbed in walmart parking lots for years and they were usually not the best at helping the police obtain evidence from their massive big brother like security systems. We should be worried about stuff like this.
http://www.takepart.com/article/2014/10/28/haiken-another-reason-go-paperless-every-receipt-you-touch-toxic
Davy on Tue, 17th May 2016 9:15 am
The fishes we need to fry as so much greater than anything related to sex. The only thing related to sex that is extremely important is overpopulation. It is my view nature will have to solve that issues although locals, societies/religions, and on a limited level nations could work better at reducing population. Sex is one of those divisive issues that diverts us away from real life and death issues. Sex is part of our big brain evolutionary dead end where we get distracted from reality and we get eaten by the monster called extinction.
Sissyfuss on Tue, 17th May 2016 11:25 am
Brilliant but warped, Thoubitch. You always give my schadenfreude a stuffy.
Sissyfuss on Tue, 17th May 2016 11:25 am
Brilliant but warped, Thoubitch. You always give my schadenfreude a stiffy.h
Apneaman on Tue, 17th May 2016 12:11 pm
Sissyfuss, don’t fall for any of douchy’s babblings. He likes to take some know facts on evolution, embryonic research in this instance, and mash them together with his worldview and claim it as truth. It’s a fucking retard. It never provides links (?). It makes shit up. All well practiced liars mix some truth with fiction. Maybe it ain’t lying – just desperately interpreting things to fit it’s pre existing views.
This guy will blow your mind. Specifically #15 #16 #17
Human Behavioral Biology (Robert Sapolsky) 25 lectures
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL150326949691B199
Apneaman on Tue, 17th May 2016 12:31 pm
Hey douchy, since your such an expert on evolution why not bless the congregation with your advanced knowledge on evolutionary migration? I mean it is one of the corner stones of evolution after all.
How come human homosexuals get a break from the douch due to a genetic predisposition, but human migrants don’t?
How can you moralize about migrants and explain the gays with evolution all in the same brain?
Because you’re a cherry picking douch bag?
Sounds about right to me.
If I was feeling generous, I would explain to everyone that your xenophobia is, in part, also a product of evolution. But I don’t feel like doing that…….cause you’re a cunt.
Mechanisms of evolution (2 of 4) Migration
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/search/imagedetail.php?id=278&topic_id=&keywords=
Newfie on Tue, 17th May 2016 6:55 pm
Kunstler is constantly writing about this subject in a negative way. He is a homophobe.
Apneaman on Tue, 17th May 2016 7:16 pm
Newfie, I bet Kunstler watches lots of lady boy porn. Repression they call it.
Truth Has A Liberal Bias on Tue, 17th May 2016 10:36 pm
I have 3 children. One of each. We all shit on the same pot, although not all at once together. I don’t see what the big deal is. Shit and piss go down the hole and through the tube and away to another place. What all this gender identity and external genatalia has to do with pumping the shit out of our structures is beyond my pay grade. Maybe it’d be best if JHK did all his shiting and pissing at home then he wouldn’t have to worry if the lady is a dude or whatever.