On today’s Substack: 1) Matt Walsh cancels me, 2) We launch our Stop Donating project! and 3) Social Justice comes to an elite private school in Oregon
I have bi-racial grandchildren and have been told I'm a racist . Also, I have trans friends and have been told that doesn't exclude me from being transphobic. I have given up trying to be rational in an irrational world.
Thank you for putting the Matt Walsh invitation out there, as always, modeling the behavior we so desperately need in our culture. I emailed a question to the Matt Walsh mailbag.
"Will you have a conversation with Peter Boghossian? I am a fan of you both and think we would all benefit from people like you talking to each other.
The invitation is out there..." and provided a link to your invitation video.
If he reads your book as preparation, do you think he will notice the example of altercasting in your invitation video :)
I was surprised when he first released your "cancelation" video. I don't understand why he would do that, and I would much rather hear a conversation between the two of you than speculate. Ben Shapiro and Walsh are on the same sets weekly, and Shapiro wrote about your grievance studies papers.
Even though I usually find Matt Walsh a clunky thinker--and that children's story he wrote, Johnny the Walrus, yuck!--he's got a point: adults should not display sexual fetishes in front of children. Sex is private, unless consenting adults want to deprivatize their lives in front of other consenting adults. The stuff Walsh went on to say about prosthetic legs--please! That guy never knows when to stop. I agree that it's not difficult to say why the shop teacher with the big plastic boobs has no business parading them in front of a captive audience of children or teenagers. That's child abuse even if the teenagers are sophisticated enough to know the poor dude is disturbed. And how could anyone teach carpentry with boobs like that? It would be like trying to tie your shoes when you're eight months pregant. I've tried.
I like Matt Walsh. Not that I agree with him on everything, but he has a very dry and wry, and yes, sometimes juvenile sense of humour. His use of the term 'cancellation' is purely satiric, and he will cancel all kinds of things and people, some not seriously, like his colleagues at the Daily Wire, and more often quite seriously. He does shoot from the hip, though, following his own well-laid out conservative Christian values. If you do connect, I do think there should be plenty of common ground as you are both interested in challenging the social justice / critical theory / woke agenda. He's certainly not afraid of engaging with others, having appeared on Dr. Phil, interviewed many academics for his documentary, What is a Woman, and testified before congress. Good luck!
Did you watch Matt’s video, the one Peter provided? Matt has absolutely no idea who Peter is! He pronounced Peter’s name wrong, he described Peter as a person “who bills himself as a philosopher,” and he made an ass-backwards assumption about Peter’s opinion regarding the Canadian teacher with the fake breast fetish. He completely misinterpreted a comment Peter made and believes that Peter is defending that freak! I wonder if Matt was paying attention when Peter, James and Helen drove the wokesters to distraction by publishing their very successful Grievance Studies hoax papers. In fact, the breast fetish freak could have been the subject of one of those hoax papers, that how weird and cringy he is…exactly the kind of woke freak Peter, James and Helen were mocking.
Matt really, really, like REALLY got this one wrong…and he’s going to be really, really, REALLY embarrassed when he discovers that his moral outrage, in this case, was misplaced. Ooooops.
Matt cares mostly about Matt. He's not fond of giving credit where credit is due. His documentary title was preceded by Kellie-Jay Keen's Woman billboards defining women as adult human females. One has to pause and decide whether it's worth trying to eke blood from a stone. On the other hand, what if Matt could set his ego aside and find camaraderie where he might least expect it? Oh well. I'm getting used to people being judgey and lacking curiosity...
I don’t think Matt would even describe himself as ‘gender critical’. That’s why he doesn’t immediately align himself with people like Keen. His agreement is limited because as feminists they are primarily interested in women only. For them it’s ‘women most affected’ not the ultimate existential questions of truth and reality. To him they will be perfectly happy if trans activists just back off and carry on with their delusions as long as women’s rights are respected. This is far from good enough.
The two groups of humans affected by trans dogma -- women, and children of both sexes -- are intimately connected. In general, parents focus on children, and feminists focus on women, because the dangers of trans ideology are so specific and so wide-ranging that it would be difficult if not impossible for one group to focus on both at the same time. But if Matt thinks that feminists are interested in women only, don't care about children, and are not interested in "the ultimate existential questions of truth and reality," he is not living in the world of truth and reality. Keep in mind that only women can give birth. At least, I hope that's still the case.
In opposition to Matt's belief that women don't care about children, there's the Women's Liberation Front (WoLF), the only US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to advancing the rights of women and girls through legal argument, policy advocacy, and public education. WoLF's attorneys submit written testimonies and amicus briefs to statehouses in support of bills to prevent the trans medicalization of children (not just female children --- all children). WoLF's recent testimonies have been submitted in Arkansas, Montana and Missouri. WoLF also works with an organization called Partners for Ethical Care, a secular, non-partisan, volunteer, grassroots nonprofit that works to expose the Gender Industry in America. WoLF also produced its own polling data of Americans’ attitudes towards the medical transitioning of children (not just female children -- all children), showing that the vast majority of Americans strongly disagree with the transgender trend. The data are available on their website.
Across the Pond, the Tavistock clinic meltdown continues to be in the news, and gender-critical feminists have been strong in speaking out against childhood transition. When Keira Bell sued the NHS for malpractice on the grounds she was too young to give informed consent, feminists Stephanie Davies-Arai, founder of Transgender Trend, philosopher Helen Bruskell-Evans, and long-time activist Julie Bindel, were right there supporting her, speaking publicly about the dangers of childhood transition.
Thank you for the info. It's welcome and good to know. However, I have to say, it's certainly big of WoLF to include boys as their mission actually does not. I guess it would look bad if they didn't. Also, I don't know why you don't include men as 'affected by the trans dogma'. Obviously, men are very much affected. Perhaps you agree with the gender critical view that the trans movement is somehow another expression of the evil patriarchy. I think that's ridiculous. It's another reason Matt Walsh wouldn't align with Keen, I think. They may care about all children, but they can't help but blame men.
Yes I did and I'll have to agree. That's what I meant by 'shooting from the hip'. Especially on the gender issue, he sometimes sees enemies that aren't there. Being in a war can do that. We'll see if is capable of seeing his own errors.
Yes, I get it. Matt didn’t do his homework…which he could and should have done. He’s a journalist!
I have liked Matt too , and he deserves kudos for his film, which has had a big impact. I hope he learns a lesson from this: do your homework! Don’t make assumptions based on being overzealous. It takes less time to get it right the first time than have to go back and to do the damage control later.
It’s so embarrassing for Matt Walsh that neither he nor his producers bothered to do any research before deciding that tweet was a “pro-fetish” defense of the shop teacher.
I can't believe that letter the principal sent to parents. Instead of writing a response, I think I'd pull my kids out. At some point, these people have got to realize how foolish they sound.
Peter, I hope Matt takes up your offer cuz then you could model how to question reasoning (of your beliefs and his). Seems he interpreted your tweet to readers as a challenge to his belief in his moral conclusions (don’t act out sexual fetishes like big fake breasts before children) rather than as a prompt to question one’s epistemology (which can also lead to more sound deliberative policy arguments that differently-believing people can assent to). I also think he mistakenly interprets it as a gotcha question, assuming that questioning one’s reasoning necessarily cheapens or destroys deeply held beliefs rather than also refines them (and our self knowledge of them) by helping us come to know what we know and better explain those reasonings to others who don’t conclude as we do.
Trans ideology has to be fought on principled grounds because corporations and governments simply flip flop in response to their squeakiest wheel. Cuba is the one of the Communist dictatorships that I am familiar with. No logic no perfect science and statistical understanding is enough, but definitely a solid foundation. I would add to the mix an effort to learn from the experiences of communist revolutions, especially with regard to the tactics employed to divide families. Please. The Red Umbrella, by Cristina Gonzalez is extremely similar to my mother's experience as a Peter Pan Project kid. A friend of mine from China has frayed nerves pretty much daily be aye she sees what is happening here the way one watches a formulaic plot unfold on the screen.
That response letter puts into words what the "oppressed" already believe - that they're entitled to take whatever they want without paying. And I don't doubt for a second that the "accused" actually were stealing.
This is not a comment that will make peace. Yes, it is humorously ironic, but it only serves to increase polarization. Better simply to state the facts, without putting a sarcastic edge on it.
Walsh is something of a stopped clock: he's inadvertently correct a certain percentage of the time. But his thinking is usually sloppy, and his belief in the sound of his own voice drowns out any uncertainty that might be appropriate for someone with no formal education beyond high school. (Who was it who pointed out the strong inverse correlation between high intelligence and certainty?)
Woke culture must be on a downward trajectory because now I'm seeing a lot of infighting between people who were unanimously against all that ridiculousness. I guess there's just not as much to do anymore.
I have bi-racial grandchildren and have been told I'm a racist . Also, I have trans friends and have been told that doesn't exclude me from being transphobic. I have given up trying to be rational in an irrational world.
Have you read any memoirs by people who have escaped Cuba, China, or North Korea? You will feel less alone if you do.
Thank you for putting the Matt Walsh invitation out there, as always, modeling the behavior we so desperately need in our culture. I emailed a question to the Matt Walsh mailbag.
"Will you have a conversation with Peter Boghossian? I am a fan of you both and think we would all benefit from people like you talking to each other.
The invitation is out there..." and provided a link to your invitation video.
If he reads your book as preparation, do you think he will notice the example of altercasting in your invitation video :)
I was surprised when he first released your "cancelation" video. I don't understand why he would do that, and I would much rather hear a conversation between the two of you than speculate. Ben Shapiro and Walsh are on the same sets weekly, and Shapiro wrote about your grievance studies papers.
"The authors of this latest hoax have done a real service to those in the general public who still believe that college liberal arts programs search for knowledge rather than reveling in power dynamics." https://www.newsweek.com/ben-shapiro-genius-academic-hoax-exposed-liberal-arts-colleges-dont-care-1155013
There are parts of this Matt Walsh interview on SpectatorTV that seem to offer some common ground as well.
Lots of people in the middle who can be reached.
https://youtu.be/YPdPoSmGYEk?t=974
We should oppose the mutilation of truth.
https://youtu.be/YPdPoSmGYEk?t=1085
Even though I usually find Matt Walsh a clunky thinker--and that children's story he wrote, Johnny the Walrus, yuck!--he's got a point: adults should not display sexual fetishes in front of children. Sex is private, unless consenting adults want to deprivatize their lives in front of other consenting adults. The stuff Walsh went on to say about prosthetic legs--please! That guy never knows when to stop. I agree that it's not difficult to say why the shop teacher with the big plastic boobs has no business parading them in front of a captive audience of children or teenagers. That's child abuse even if the teenagers are sophisticated enough to know the poor dude is disturbed. And how could anyone teach carpentry with boobs like that? It would be like trying to tie your shoes when you're eight months pregant. I've tried.
Your letter: delightful, ironic, to the point.
"Redacted" has been "served" 😉
Brilliant letter to “Redacted.” Brilliant!
thanks
I like Matt Walsh. Not that I agree with him on everything, but he has a very dry and wry, and yes, sometimes juvenile sense of humour. His use of the term 'cancellation' is purely satiric, and he will cancel all kinds of things and people, some not seriously, like his colleagues at the Daily Wire, and more often quite seriously. He does shoot from the hip, though, following his own well-laid out conservative Christian values. If you do connect, I do think there should be plenty of common ground as you are both interested in challenging the social justice / critical theory / woke agenda. He's certainly not afraid of engaging with others, having appeared on Dr. Phil, interviewed many academics for his documentary, What is a Woman, and testified before congress. Good luck!
Did you watch Matt’s video, the one Peter provided? Matt has absolutely no idea who Peter is! He pronounced Peter’s name wrong, he described Peter as a person “who bills himself as a philosopher,” and he made an ass-backwards assumption about Peter’s opinion regarding the Canadian teacher with the fake breast fetish. He completely misinterpreted a comment Peter made and believes that Peter is defending that freak! I wonder if Matt was paying attention when Peter, James and Helen drove the wokesters to distraction by publishing their very successful Grievance Studies hoax papers. In fact, the breast fetish freak could have been the subject of one of those hoax papers, that how weird and cringy he is…exactly the kind of woke freak Peter, James and Helen were mocking.
Matt really, really, like REALLY got this one wrong…and he’s going to be really, really, REALLY embarrassed when he discovers that his moral outrage, in this case, was misplaced. Ooooops.
Matt cares mostly about Matt. He's not fond of giving credit where credit is due. His documentary title was preceded by Kellie-Jay Keen's Woman billboards defining women as adult human females. One has to pause and decide whether it's worth trying to eke blood from a stone. On the other hand, what if Matt could set his ego aside and find camaraderie where he might least expect it? Oh well. I'm getting used to people being judgey and lacking curiosity...
No disagreement there. I try to be generous towards anybody who's gender critical, but Matt is way down on my list as a role model in that regard.
I don’t think Matt would even describe himself as ‘gender critical’. That’s why he doesn’t immediately align himself with people like Keen. His agreement is limited because as feminists they are primarily interested in women only. For them it’s ‘women most affected’ not the ultimate existential questions of truth and reality. To him they will be perfectly happy if trans activists just back off and carry on with their delusions as long as women’s rights are respected. This is far from good enough.
The two groups of humans affected by trans dogma -- women, and children of both sexes -- are intimately connected. In general, parents focus on children, and feminists focus on women, because the dangers of trans ideology are so specific and so wide-ranging that it would be difficult if not impossible for one group to focus on both at the same time. But if Matt thinks that feminists are interested in women only, don't care about children, and are not interested in "the ultimate existential questions of truth and reality," he is not living in the world of truth and reality. Keep in mind that only women can give birth. At least, I hope that's still the case.
In opposition to Matt's belief that women don't care about children, there's the Women's Liberation Front (WoLF), the only US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to advancing the rights of women and girls through legal argument, policy advocacy, and public education. WoLF's attorneys submit written testimonies and amicus briefs to statehouses in support of bills to prevent the trans medicalization of children (not just female children --- all children). WoLF's recent testimonies have been submitted in Arkansas, Montana and Missouri. WoLF also works with an organization called Partners for Ethical Care, a secular, non-partisan, volunteer, grassroots nonprofit that works to expose the Gender Industry in America. WoLF also produced its own polling data of Americans’ attitudes towards the medical transitioning of children (not just female children -- all children), showing that the vast majority of Americans strongly disagree with the transgender trend. The data are available on their website.
https://womensliberationfront.org/child-medicalization
Across the Pond, the Tavistock clinic meltdown continues to be in the news, and gender-critical feminists have been strong in speaking out against childhood transition. When Keira Bell sued the NHS for malpractice on the grounds she was too young to give informed consent, feminists Stephanie Davies-Arai, founder of Transgender Trend, philosopher Helen Bruskell-Evans, and long-time activist Julie Bindel, were right there supporting her, speaking publicly about the dangers of childhood transition.
Bindel: https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/puberty-blockers-for-children/ and https://thecritic.co.uk/beware-of-trans-affirmation-therapy/.
Thank you for the info. It's welcome and good to know. However, I have to say, it's certainly big of WoLF to include boys as their mission actually does not. I guess it would look bad if they didn't. Also, I don't know why you don't include men as 'affected by the trans dogma'. Obviously, men are very much affected. Perhaps you agree with the gender critical view that the trans movement is somehow another expression of the evil patriarchy. I think that's ridiculous. It's another reason Matt Walsh wouldn't align with Keen, I think. They may care about all children, but they can't help but blame men.
Yes I did and I'll have to agree. That's what I meant by 'shooting from the hip'. Especially on the gender issue, he sometimes sees enemies that aren't there. Being in a war can do that. We'll see if is capable of seeing his own errors.
Yes, I get it. Matt didn’t do his homework…which he could and should have done. He’s a journalist!
I have liked Matt too , and he deserves kudos for his film, which has had a big impact. I hope he learns a lesson from this: do your homework! Don’t make assumptions based on being overzealous. It takes less time to get it right the first time than have to go back and to do the damage control later.
It’s funny. Lighten up.
It is funny. It's hilarious, in fact.
It’s so embarrassing for Matt Walsh that neither he nor his producers bothered to do any research before deciding that tweet was a “pro-fetish” defense of the shop teacher.
Priceless Peter,Priceless
I can't believe that letter the principal sent to parents. Instead of writing a response, I think I'd pull my kids out. At some point, these people have got to realize how foolish they sound.
Peter, I hope Matt takes up your offer cuz then you could model how to question reasoning (of your beliefs and his). Seems he interpreted your tweet to readers as a challenge to his belief in his moral conclusions (don’t act out sexual fetishes like big fake breasts before children) rather than as a prompt to question one’s epistemology (which can also lead to more sound deliberative policy arguments that differently-believing people can assent to). I also think he mistakenly interprets it as a gotcha question, assuming that questioning one’s reasoning necessarily cheapens or destroys deeply held beliefs rather than also refines them (and our self knowledge of them) by helping us come to know what we know and better explain those reasonings to others who don’t conclude as we do.
thank you
Trans ideology has to be fought on principled grounds because corporations and governments simply flip flop in response to their squeakiest wheel. Cuba is the one of the Communist dictatorships that I am familiar with. No logic no perfect science and statistical understanding is enough, but definitely a solid foundation. I would add to the mix an effort to learn from the experiences of communist revolutions, especially with regard to the tactics employed to divide families. Please. The Red Umbrella, by Cristina Gonzalez is extremely similar to my mother's experience as a Peter Pan Project kid. A friend of mine from China has frayed nerves pretty much daily be aye she sees what is happening here the way one watches a formulaic plot unfold on the screen.
I call that “amplifying the absurdity”. Brilliant
That response letter puts into words what the "oppressed" already believe - that they're entitled to take whatever they want without paying. And I don't doubt for a second that the "accused" actually were stealing.
This is not a comment that will make peace. Yes, it is humorously ironic, but it only serves to increase polarization. Better simply to state the facts, without putting a sarcastic edge on it.
Walsh is something of a stopped clock: he's inadvertently correct a certain percentage of the time. But his thinking is usually sloppy, and his belief in the sound of his own voice drowns out any uncertainty that might be appropriate for someone with no formal education beyond high school. (Who was it who pointed out the strong inverse correlation between high intelligence and certainty?)
Yeah, Matt could have done a bit of research before declaring that Peter isn’t really a philosopher, he just plays one on the internet.
Woke culture must be on a downward trajectory because now I'm seeing a lot of infighting between people who were unanimously against all that ridiculousness. I guess there's just not as much to do anymore.
You do know April Fools is over, right?