Transgender rights and student loan forgiveness are two entirely different topics. Yet, bigots and people with little worlds have managed to tie the two together.
Yes, that’s right folks, apparently the small minded have managed to create an argument against student loan forgiveness from gender identity. Or is it an argument against transgender rights from student loan forgiveness? Hard to tell.
Well, in truth, it is not an argument at all. It is a grossly failed attempt at being clever. While they think they are being clever, the fact is, they are being stupid. They are being disgraceful. They should be absolutely shamed. The intent of this post is to tell them how stupid they are, how disgraceful they are, and to shame them for it. That is my clear purpose, my “thesis statement.”
So, what are the “arguments”?
I have seen two varieties floating around of pretty much the same thing. One says, “My credit card debt identifies as a student loan.” Another is “my mortgage identifies as a student loan.” Both arguments are stupid. They may give all the bigots and resentful folk a chuckle and a feeling of superiority but, verily, they are just stupid.
What is obvious is that the small-minded fools who make these arguments and think they are funny do not believe transgender persons exist, and they are against student loan forgiveness. Let’s look at each in turn, shall we?
They reject that a person can rightly identify as a gender other than what they were assigned at birth based on biological sex and that there is far more to gender than simple XX or XY chromosomes. I say “reject” loosely as most of them are simply ignorant of the biological science and see no need to learn it because they already know it is wrong (it is probably Marxist ‘cuz that is what all the bad stuff is) and they already know the truth. They think this justifies making jokes about transgender persons or, worse, doing them harm. And those who say they do not condone the harm see no problem making fun of them, which fosters a culture wherein transgender people are regularly subjected to harm and even murder. Of course, they probably don’t bother to learn about violence against transgender persons any more than they want to keep up on gender science. (Hint: You can disagree with something and still stand against violence and harm to a group of people. Standing up for and protecting your fellow humans, even those who don’t fit into your little world, doesn’t have to mean you support their cause. It just means you don’t have a coal-black evil heart that accepts violence against certain groups).
These bigots also make a show of taking the moral high ground. They tell us they don’t want predatory men dressed in women’s clothing going in the women’s bathroom. Funny that they never say a word about transgender men using the men’s bathroom. Seems a bit one-sided. I guess they are just concerned to look after the women folk like the mighty men they are. One observation: transgender women do, of course, identify as women, and therefore go into the women’s bathroom pretty much for the purpose of…using the bathroom. If a male dresses up in women’s clothing and goes into a women’s bathroom, pro tip, he is not a transgender woman. Yet, as these ignoramuses would have it, transgender women are a great conspiracy and highly thought-out strategy to get into the women’s bathroom to commit assault. Stupid.
Despite all of the legislation proposed by states claiming that such legal measures will prevent such assaults, do you know (or even considered you should find out) how many incidents of transgender women committing assault in bathrooms have been reported? Zero. Yep, that’s right. Zip. Nada. Not one. This “concern” to prevent assault is a thin veil for transphobia that does nothing but fuel that fear and lead people to commit violence against other human beings because they are transgender. But you fools have nonetheless dutifully repeated the lies your masters have fed to you. On another note, do you know how many reported incidents there are of men dressing as women and assaulting women in bathrooms? I know you don’t know. You don’t care to know. You want to stay safe in your bigotry.
But you should know that studies have found that transgender and non-binary teens have been sexually assaulted in bathroom and locker rooms when these teens were prevented from going to the facilities that aligned with their gender identification. A Harvard study found it was 36 percent. Why are you okay with this? Disgraceful.
Student Loans
What about student loans? I hope to get around to writing another article on the resentment at the root of a lot of opposition to student loan forgiveness, but that’s more than can fit here. The general idea is if you take out a loan, you are obligated to pay it; and don’t take the loan if you can’t pay it. “Pay your debts” is a fundamental principle of living virtuously. As with all considerations of the moral life, however, the principle is always interpreted and applied in the real-world situations in which they happen. The idea that factors such as the predatory nature of the system in granting loans, the way those loans are managed to keep people trapped in a cycle of debt, and other such things should be considered haven’t occurred to some people. They flatly do not want to consider such things. The idea that money will now go into the economy rather than repaying loans doesn’t occur to them as a good. And, further, the idea that forgiveness can be a good thing even if people have an obligation (which is the whole premise of forgiving) is lost on them.
Now, to the transphobic “argument” against student loan forgiveness. Since it is clear that these small minded, resentful people do not agree with forgiving student debt, the comment that their credit cards or mortgage “identify” as a student loan is, to their minds, a jest. But such jests are foolish and, worse, continue to perpetuate lies and disinformation. For example, when Ted Cruz was questioning Ketanji Brown Jackson during her Supreme Court nomination hearings, he kept asking whether he could decide he was a woman and then later decide he wasn’t. Could he decide he was Asian if he wanted to (transracialism in a completely different topic). What this displayed was a flippant and extreme ignorance about being transgender. And, in true Cruz form, obfuscates the conversation and the facts. Ted Cruz, the Republican from Cancun, is irresponsible and a disgraceful representative. He should resign. Basic lesson in critical thinking, Ted: if it is the case that transgender persons exist and being transgender is a real thing, and that people can truly identify as a different gender than assigned at birth, it does not follow that one can simply identify to be anything. That is a false equivocation and other kinds of “identification” would have to be considered separately on their own merits. Stick to the topic, Ted. Introducing these things into the question of transgender identities is, well, stupid. Scares me that a person with such poor critical thinking skills, combined with blatant bigotry, is in a position of power and influence.
Likewise, a mortgage or credit card debt cannot in any way, shape, or form, “identify” as a student loan. But while you small-minded people think you have found a clever way to raise your objections against student loan forgiveness, you need to know that your way of doing so is transphobic. Human beings have suffered violence and death because of the lies you have bought and continue to perpetuate. It is not a laughing matter. And even if you remain unconvinced that transgender persons exist, you should at least have the humanity not to make transphobic jokes, especially knowing that such a culture fosters violence and pain. Stop being stupid. Stop being disgraceful. It is shameful. Hell, we were all taught in grade school that is shameful to make fun of someone because they are different. It is time you people of little worlds grow up and stop being bigots. After all, didn’t you all say that All Lives Matter? With all I see, I don’t think you believe they do.
Discursive Dialectics 