Life Advice - Don't Easily Dismiss or Lose Respect for People

[Shock]

Thread needs a cat drinking a beer and eating prawns.

[Zero999]

I'm going to seek a border here and also respond to a couple of posts back.

You are talking about "not liking to be the gender you are born with"

Gender dysphoria is poorly understood, so I don't know if I agree with that part. It's possible it's a result of trauma, just as much as nature. All I know is there many people who've gone through transition and regretted it. The fact it's not fully understood, means we should take a more conservative approach when it comes to dealing with it and no I'm not talking about politics here: the first rule of the Hippocratic oath is do no harm.

Guess you are right on that, but I think it is very difficult for medical professionals to see through if it is really needed to perform the surgery or not, but not doing it can also be harmful. Checking DNA like mentioned before to see what gender someone is might not bring the correct result either. When it is in your head, born with or grown due to trauma, can take you down if not dealt with properly. One can then ask what is "properly" here. Very difficult stuff all together.

I like to throw in a saying I like. "If the human brain was so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn't"

The human psychology is not easy to understand and there are many points of view, be it Freudian, Jungian or whatever streams there are.

Nice to have a discussion about it though.

To clarify, for the purposes of prison, hospital wards, medical treatment and sport, it's much fairer to all involved to simply treat the person in accordance with their biological sex in most cases. This might be seen as unfair to some individuals, but it's certainly the lesser evil. If someone is at high risk of being assaulted in prison because they believe their the opposite sex, to their biological one, then they should be treated in the same manner as any other person in prison with condition which makes them especially vulnerable. It really is that simple. If we go down the existing path women's prisons will fill up with dangerous males who identify as female. There are those who say not all trans are rapists, which is indeed true, but I'm talking about criminals here who will lie about who they are if it benefits them. An individual's biological sex is the first thing which needs to be considered, as far as medicine is concerned. Every cell in your body is either male, or female, based on your sex. Certain diseases are more common in sex, than the others. How a person feels about their gender and if they've had any treatment such as surgery, hormones, or whether they would benefit from it, should be considerations, when they're receiving treatment for another condition.

This is different to other instances such as at work and socialising. I'm perfectly fine with calling Fran she, or her, because that's how she wishes to be addressed. I know full well she's really male, but if it makes her feel more comfortable, that's fine by me. I certainly wouldn't refuse to employ someone because they're trans. That would be mad, if they're right person for the job.

[pcprogrammer]

I agree with you that in places where there is a risk of vulnerable people being harmed due to someone abusing the system it is indeed best to keep things separate based on actual gender, but then also take measure to protect the male who feels female from being hurt when put in a "true" male institution.

About hospital wards, over here and in the Netherlands I don't think separation exists anymore. You are asked if you don't mind and get either a private room or a room with only the same gender if you do mind and when it is possible. My wife has been a nurse for many years, so she said that this is indeed the case in the Netherlands. For here in France it is based on stories of people I know who have been in hospital over here.

This is different to other instances such as at work and socialising. I'm perfectly fine with calling Fran she, or her, because that's how she wishes to be addressed. I know full well she's really male, but if it makes her feel more comfortable, that's fine by me. I certainly wouldn't refuse to employ someone because they're trans. That would be mad, if they're right person for the job.

Yes you are right about that when someone is right for the job you are mad to not employ that person what ever there gender, race or persuasion is. On the other hand when you have to employ someone not suited because it is politically correct then it absolute bollocks. And that is happening a lot nowadays, being it gender or race. And right for the job can include if someone fits in the team, which is also a two way street.

[T3sl4co1l]

Honestly, I dont know how did it happen, that all the political views have been reduced to a 1D line.
It baffles me that we made necessary to make this choice in most democracies on a single line, and completely binary in the USA? There is only an extreme leftist and a ultranationalist party in the USA now?

If by "extreme leftist" you mean "center-right" (in the grand scheme of things).  Which I guess goes to show you how effective the ultranationalists have been at setting narratives?

There are plenty on the actual-left, but they have little power, plus there are too many directions to take that in (everything from authoritarian tankies and wokescolds, to ordinary reasonable socialists, to radical anarchists of still other various flavors), so they're easily disregarded by the mainstream.  The mainstream, for the most part, isn't politically active; ignorance is the rule, not the exception (non-voters were still the dominant "party" even in the 2020 election, I think?).  Poor education, and ever-more-centralized media, are massive problems.

Tim

[nctnico]

Honestly, I dont know how did it happen, that all the political views have been reduced to a 1D line.
It baffles me that we made necessary to make this choice in most democracies on a single line, and completely binary in the USA? There is only an extreme leftist and a ultranationalist party in the USA now?

If by "extreme leftist" you mean "center-right" (in the grand scheme of things).  Which I guess goes to show you how effective the ultranationalists have been at setting narratives?

There are plenty on the actual-left, but they have little power, plus there are too many directions to take that in (everything from authoritarian tankies and wokescolds, to ordinary reasonable socialists, to radical anarchists of still other various flavors), so they're easily disregarded by the mainstream.  The mainstream, for the most part, isn't politically active; ignorance is the rule, not the exception (non-voters were still the dominant "party" even in the 2020 election, I think?).  Poor education, and ever-more-centralized media, are massive problems.

IMHO one of the primary problems in the US (and also the UK) is a political system that has been designed from the ground up to have a very limited number of parties. It is almost like a communist country where the power is concentrated in very few people.

[pcprogrammer]

Honestly, I dont know how did it happen, that all the political views have been reduced to a 1D line.
It baffles me that we made necessary to make this choice in most democracies on a single line, and completely binary in the USA? There is only an extreme leftist and a ultranationalist party in the USA now?

If by "extreme leftist" you mean "center-right" (in the grand scheme of things).  Which I guess goes to show you how effective the ultranationalists have been at setting narratives?

There are plenty on the actual-left, but they have little power, plus there are too many directions to take that in (everything from authoritarian tankies and wokescolds, to ordinary reasonable socialists, to radical anarchists of still other various flavors), so they're easily disregarded by the mainstream.  The mainstream, for the most part, isn't politically active; ignorance is the rule, not the exception (non-voters were still the dominant "party" even in the 2020 election, I think?).  Poor education, and ever-more-centralized media, are massive problems.

IMHO one of the primary problems in the US (and also the UK) is a political system that has been designed from the ground up to have a very limited number of parties. It is almost like a communist country where the power is concentrated in very few people.

As if the political system in the Netherlands is so great

Way to many parties making choice a lot harder, and governing near impossible. "Polderen" they call it, but it stands in the way of true change. They always have to seek middle ground to get things approved, or compromise on things they don't really want to get their own visions partially pushed through.

I gave up on politics long ago, and take a good look at post WWII history and global evolution. Despite periods of left, middle (if the system had one) or right on the controls, most (western) societies are on the same track. Modern evolution, for me, seems far more ruled by money then politics.

[tszaboo]

Honestly, I dont know how did it happen, that all the political views have been reduced to a 1D line.
It baffles me that we made necessary to make this choice in most democracies on a single line, and completely binary in the USA? There is only an extreme leftist and a ultranationalist party in the USA now?

If by "extreme leftist" you mean "center-right" (in the grand scheme of things).  Which I guess goes to show you how effective the ultranationalists have been at setting narratives?

There are plenty on the actual-left, but they have little power, plus there are too many directions to take that in (everything from authoritarian tankies and wokescolds, to ordinary reasonable socialists, to radical anarchists of still other various flavors), so they're easily disregarded by the mainstream.  The mainstream, for the most part, isn't politically active; ignorance is the rule, not the exception (non-voters were still the dominant "party" even in the 2020 election, I think?).  Poor education, and ever-more-centralized media, are massive problems.

Tim

The two political parties in the US are using Europe's extreme left and rights rhetoric. Both the democrat and the republican party is an extremist party. They just realized that if they don't wear swastikas' or wave a red flag, then they can get away with everything.
Just look at it. "Build a wall to keep out those dirty foreigners" or "Let's ban free speech, because people might say something that might upset someone from the alphabet community" is not something that any reasonable politician would do.
It's like really really bad. And scary, because this gets exported to us by Hollywood and the internet.
And I'm sure, whichever party you are with, you feel like you are the reasonable ones, because those extreme views are only done by a few people, that you don't identify with.

[T3sl4co1l]

IMHO one of the primary problems in the US (and also the UK) is a political system that has been designed from the ground up to have a very limited number of parties. It is almost like a communist country where the power is concentrated in very few people.

Authoritarian* country.  Doesn't matter if it's left or right.  Left: "we die for glory of our state, comrade". Right: "we die for glory of our heritage, seig heil".  Economic policies differ, but the power structure is the same: extreme inequality with outsized wealth/power concentrated in the party members and their cronies.

One can imagine a communism that "works", more along a lib-left direction; but certainly won't work with people from western cultures.  (There are, in fact, a few remaining small / island / reclusive communities/nations/tribes that are still, actually, somewhere in the left-lib direction.)

So, one of the few ways one could even begin to try and approach such a thing (communism), would be revolution, but revolution only ever pushes things in the auth direction, it's self defeating.  Cultural change is required, so state media control is required, among other...much less palatable options (reeducation camps, genocide..).  Which is basically why Leninist/Maoist/etc. attempts turned out the way they did.

Conversely, fascism adopts to existing cultural values, but by necessity, turns them up to 11.  So you get hyper-masculine, theocratic sorts of propaganda, and shows of violence (including taking political prisoners, or worse) to keep the more passive people in check.

The irony is, authoritarians H A T E each other; we had an entire "cold war" over it.  Among other things.  Red scare; evil capitalism; it's just propaganda, excuses to -- in part -- buoy their respective military-industrial complexes, perpetuating the us-vs-them external threat justifying their authority.

But yeah, that basically explains why authoritarians are terrible.  Unfortunately, traditional western liberal values aren't very good at resisting them; a century or so of "red scare" propaganda has pretty well inoculated against that in the US, but that still leaves plenty of room for fascists to maneuver... which is how we are where we are now...

The two political parties in the US are using Europe's extreme left and rights rhetoric. Both the democrat and the republican party is an extremist party. They just realized that if they don't wear swastikas' or wave a red flag, then they can get away with everything.
Just look at it. "Build a wall to keep out those dirty foreigners" or "Let's ban free speech, because people might say something that might upset someone from the alphabet community" is not something that any reasonable politician would do.

Not sure what you're referring to; no one's proposing bills to remove free speech that I can think of.  I'm sure there's something that's been picked up by international media but which conveniently left off the context that wokescolds aren't serious or viable candidates.  I assume you're not talking about hate speech; hate speech simply isn't free speech.  The "extreme left wing" of the dem party is proposing such radical things as [restoring ] abortion rights, unions, and universal health care (e.g. Bernie Sanders).

A state did sign a bill concerning LGBT themes in the classroom, but that was prohibiting it, because Florida has an extreme-right governor.

Tim

[Mechatrommer]

...or stop watching their content because you didn't like something they said or something they do or don't believe in. This adds no value to your life and you will miss out on so much potentially good stuff...

now thats the most sensible thing i read for so loong time... keep telling yourself and most of the western folks out here that... LIFE is just tip of an iceberg... i'm here for electronics and for the "good" nothing less... anyway... looking for that linux contributor hired by bill gates stuffs, i want to make some rants over there but then stumbled in here... where is that thread now?

[pcprogrammer]

You mean this one: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/programming/lennard-pottering-the-genius-proggramer-behind-systemd-is-now-at-microsoft/?topicseen

[Zero999]

I always used to consider myself to be on the centre-left, but now I'm probably more centre-right. I honestly don't know if it's because my views have shifted, or it's just the mainstream media have become progressively more left-wing. I like to think I reevaluate my position on things based on new information, so either is possible.

I honestly don't see the extremes in the UK's two parties. They might say different things, but they both do the same. The mainstream media run the country, not the politicians, who just bow to what they say, in a bid to be popular. The problem is, many people do not agree with the propaganda pumped out by the mainstream media. It doesn't reflect real life.

[rsjsouza]

I don't know in the UK, but in the US the left moved so far to radicalization that several people feel moving to the right while being at the same place as before. That leads to organizations and people being shamed and name called by the regressive left (they typical *isms and *ists) for their positions about a subject that in a very recent past were simply common sense. Put in the mix the media thirst for clicks, incensed headlines and the cheap use of catchy phrases to describe complex problems and you get the perfect sensation the ground shifted tectonically without one really  knowing what the heck just happened with society.

(Edit) BTW, as I mentioned before, both parties put on a good show of antsgonism but behind the scenes work for the same common goal: keep themselves and their friends in power.

[EEVblog]

The mainstream, for the most part, isn't politically active; ignorance is the rule, not the exception (non-voters were still the dominant "party" even in the 2020 election, I think?).  Poor education, and ever-more-centralized media, are massive problems.

It's not just "poor education", it's eduction now rooted in activism based on identity politics. The universities have almost been destroyed by it. And it has spilled over into the social media institutions which are now the defacto town square. So we are now all forced to live under a Sword of Damocles, say they wrong thing, or simply ask the wrong questions on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, etc and you are history.
And then the governments weaponise and extand that identity politics into thought/opinion politics and they utilise the procedures put in the place by the social media companies to combat "hate speech" to then clamp down on "Misinformation".

And if you don't think you'll ever be impacted by it, because you are a "nice person" on the "correct side" of the politics, just wait. It'll come for you too eventually.
Even associating with the wrong people will get you cancelled. I wish I could tell you a personal story here, but I won't, to protect the other party. Let's just say that even in our small industry, if you associate with with someone some SJW nutjob deems to be the "wrong person", then they will attempt to cancel you too.

[Zero999]

The mainstream, for the most part, isn't politically active; ignorance is the rule, not the exception (non-voters were still the dominant "party" even in the 2020 election, I think?).  Poor education, and ever-more-centralized media, are massive problems.

It's not just "poor education", it's eduction now rooted in activism based on identity politics. The universities have almost been destroyed by it. And it has spilled over into the social media institutions which are now the defacto town square. So we are now all forced to live under a Sword of Damocles, say they wrong thing, or simply ask the wrong questions on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, etc and you are history.
And then the governments weaponise and extand that identity politics into thought/opinion politics and they utilise the procedures put in the place by the social media companies to combat "hate speech" to then clamp down on "Misinformation".

And if you don't think you'll ever be impacted by it, because you are a "nice person" on the "correct side" of the politics, just wait. It'll come for you too eventually.
Even associating with the wrong people will get you cancelled. I wish I could tell you a personal story here, but I won't, to protect the other party. Let's just say that even in our small industry, if you associate with with someone some SJW nutjob deems to be the "wrong person", then they will attempt to cancel you too.

It infiltrated the education system around 10 years ago. The students then found themselves jobs in the civil service, journalism and human resources departments of private companies and charitable organisations and now we're seeing it come to fruition.

[KaneTW]

if you associate with with someone some SJW nutjob deems to be the "wrong person", then they will attempt to cancel you too.

I was excluded from a community about 2 years ago for what basically amounts to unpopular opinions.
People from that community have stalked me and tried to get me banned from other communities, and harassed some friends to the point where they only talk to me in private messages.

It's completely unhinged.

E:

It infiltrated the education system around 10 years ago. The students then found themselves jobs in the civil service, journalism and human resources departments of private companies and charitable organisations and now we're seeing it come to fruition.

Yeah, that's roughly where I started seeing it happen. In Germany there was a push to rename "Studentenwerk" to "Studierendenwerk" about... 5-7 years ago? And that was definitely a sign things are going tits up.

For reference, "Studenten" is plural of "Student," which is technically male but is the accepted ambigiously gendered plural for gendered words.
"Studierende" is some passive voice construction ("person that studies") and "Studierenden" is the plural thereof.

[EEVblog]

if you associate with with someone some SJW nutjob deems to be the "wrong person", then they will attempt to cancel you too.

I was excluded from a community about 2 years ago for what basically amounts to unpopular opinions.
People from that community have stalked me and tried to get me banned from other communities, and harassed some friends to the point where they only talk to me in private messages.
It's completely unhinged.

And countless people, organisations, and even governments will defend this in the name of *insert current thing here*
Indeed, people at all levels of society and influence are afraid of being attacked themselves unless they publicly support this kind of thing, and so the cycle goes.
Many companies were also convinced it was financially postive to public promote this kind of agenda, but this year though I have seen huge signs of all this house of cards cracking. Even large woke companies like Netflix are backpeddling for example. There is hope.

[Zero999]

if you associate with with someone some SJW nutjob deems to be the "wrong person", then they will attempt to cancel you too.

I was excluded from a community about 2 years ago for what basically amounts to unpopular opinions.
People from that community have stalked me and tried to get me banned from other communities, and harassed some friends to the point where they only talk to me in private messages.

It's completely unhinged.

E:

It infiltrated the education system around 10 years ago. The students then found themselves jobs in the civil service, journalism and human resources departments of private companies and charitable organisations and now we're seeing it come to fruition.

Yeah, that's roughly where I started seeing it happen. In Germany there was a push to rename "Studentenwerk" to "Studierendenwerk" about... 5-7 years ago? And that was definitely a sign things are going tits up.

For reference, "Studenten" is plural of "Student," which is technically male but is the accepted ambigiously gendered plural for gendered words.
"Studierende" is some passive voice construction ("person that studies") and "Studierenden" is the plural thereof.

You should tell yourself good riddance. Do you really want to be part of a community like that?

I recently had to endure diversity training at work, when I did air some of my opinions, knowing full well I might have to look for a new job. I warned them about putting the rights of one group above another and gave real world examples of where this had gone badly wrong: women being raped in hospital and prison and our police force covering up Muslim child grooming gangs abusing white working class girls, through fear of being accused of racism. Fortunately they seemed to listen,but I knew I was taking a risk. I did choose my words very carefully and picked my battles.

if you associate with with someone some SJW nutjob deems to be the "wrong person", then they will attempt to cancel you too.

I was excluded from a community about 2 years ago for what basically amounts to unpopular opinions.
People from that community have stalked me and tried to get me banned from other communities, and harassed some friends to the point where they only talk to me in private messages.
It's completely unhinged.

And countless people, organisations, and even governments will defend this in the name of *insert current thing here*
Indeed, people at all levels of society and influence are afraid of being attacked themselves unless they publicly support this kind of thing, and so the cycle goes.
Many companies were also convinced it was financially postive to public promote this kind of agenda, but this year though I have seen huge signs of all this house of cards cracking. Even large woke companies like Netflix are backpeddling for example. There is hope.

The worst one is the pride bollocks. Numerous companies put rainbows on their logos and websites, but only in countries where alphabet people aren't discriminated against. Their logos remain unchanged in Arabic countries. I can't stand it. It used to serve a purpose, back when it was illegal but now it just puts across negative stereotypes.

[EEVblog]

I recently had to endure diversity training at work, when I did air some of my opinions, knowing full well I might have to look for a new job.

Luckily it's been 11 years since I last worked in big company, so I missed all that.
It would have been interesting to have seen what would happen when I spoke up and refused to do the training though 
And if they dare asked for my feedback they would have got the full James Demore engineering report treatment.

[pcprogrammer]

The worst one is the pride bollocks. Numerous companies put rainbows on their logos and websites, but only in countries where alphabet people aren't discriminated against. Their logos remain unchanged in Arabic countries. I can't stand it. It used to serve a purpose, back when it was illegal but now it just puts across negative stereotypes.

To me the problem lies in categorizing people into boxes. When the human race comes to the understanding that we are all just people and as such all different individuals and accept that these differences do not matter, there will be hope.

Your referral to alphabet people puts them in a box and from what I read what you write unintentionally.

And I'm not saying that we should not "discriminate" against the excesses in the differences, like putting criminals in jail, because there still is a need for rules and morals. Humankind just needs to stretch the morals where it comes to the sexually and gender or what have you different within the limits of some good sense. But that requires thinking, and I feel society is lacking that more and more. Not due to diminishing intelligence, but due to being indifferent. (Though I also have the feeling people are getting dumber)

Sure it is not easy and I confess to also be more alert when I see a dark skinned guy with a hoodie to name just a stereo type.

[Nominal Animal]

When the human race comes to the understanding that we are all just people and as such all different individuals and accept that these differences do not matter, there will be hope.

That leads to equal treatment, though; not to special treatment to "underprivileged groups", which is what this is all about.

Humankind just needs to stretch the morals where it comes to the sexually and gender or what have you different within the limits of some good sense.

Humankind needs a lot of stuff, that's true; but morals cannot be dictated.  Just like language, they evolve dynamically.

Really, it is more about forced speech and "reverse" discrimination; about requiring individuals to treat other individuals differently depending on their group membership.

(Here goes my speech for those who are afraid they don't "fit" because they are "different".)

In here and in real life, I'm very happy to interact with you (whoever you are reading this post), and will not "judge" you in any way except how you interact with myself and others: I will treat you like you treat me, because that is natural to humans, and tends to yield the best results.  And while I do not have any proof or actual evidence, I do claim that here on EEVblog, and in general in any technical, engineering, or science field where people are interested and motivated, everyone, regardless of their sexual or bodily characteristics, is welcome.

As such, I do claim that science and engineering fields in general are welcoming to anyone, regardless of their sexual or bodily characteristics.
I certainly have happily worked with all kinds of different people, and their exact "differentness" was just the spice on top, not something that defined them in any way.

Yeah, idiots do exist and occur everywhere, and I too have been discriminated against pretty damn badly ("You get no budget just because you're my son's age and he's completely useless –– even though you have already shown your reliability and capabilities in practice.  Instead, you will need to ask me written permission for every purchase.  Since you do maintain a couple of computer classrooms and some servers with lots of consumables, try to ask them at most once every two weeks, because I don't want to be reviewing such inconsequential paperwork all the time.  No, you cannot have any stock replacements either; that would be wasteful.").   The world is imperfect, but don't let it be defined by the assholes.

Thing is, if someone here were to describe themselves as say a hermaphrodite, that too will be treated more like a technical thing than a personal thing.  In other words, they might get technical questions regarding actual biological plumbing, and not social questions like "how do you feel about X", "what is your preference regarding Y".  But that is because people who are drawn to science and engineering tend to be more thing-oriented than people-oriented; something that is well known in psychology, and is observed in other primates as well.  (In experiments, some young monkeys prefer toy cars, and others prefer dolls; very few play with both kinds of toys equally.)  Do not mistake that for coldness or rejection; this is just how many engineers and scientists are, really think and even emote.  It is their way of expressing interest and support.  As humans, we do not get to tell others how they need/must/should express their interest and support; we just have to deal with it the best we can.

Demanding others to change because we feel the way they express their interest and support is insufficient, is not going to work.

[pcprogrammer]

Humankind needs a lot of stuff, that's true; but morals cannot be dictated.  Just like language, they evolve dynamically.

You are right that it can't be dictated. I was just hinting that in a perfect world that is what would help in accepting each other.

That leads to equal treatment, though; not to special treatment to "underprivileged groups", which is what this is all about.

Also right, but again in a perfect world there would not be the need for special treatment. (Some really special cases excluded)

And no I'm not a naive person who does not see how shitty the real world is. I too have experienced discrimination for being "different". In what in the Netherlands is called "voortgezet onderwijs" (Age ~12 - ~18) I was teased because I was dressed like a bum in somewhat scruffy clothes. Partially because we where lets say lower middle class and partially because I did not care about my clothes, like the snobs that were teasing me did. Ended when I went to a different more liberal school where it was more in fashion

The whole problem in this world is that it is all maintained by "both" sides. Almost nobody is free of discrimination in either handing it out or receiving it. Forming tight knit groups only enhances this.

The world is imperfect, but don't let it be defined by the assholes.

A very good statement, but unfortunately that is what is happening.

In here and in real life, I'm very happy to interact with you (whoever you are reading this post), and will not "judge" you in any way except how you interact with myself and others: I will treat you like you treat me, because that is natural to humans, and tends to yield the best results.  And while I do not have any proof or actual evidence, I do claim that here on EEVblog, and in general in any technical, engineering, or science field where people are interested and motivated, everyone, regardless of their sexual or bodily characteristics, is welcome.

As written before, that is what I like about EEVblog. Not a lot of mistreatment going on. I have seen forums where people get burned down to the ground with hate arguments, and sure it is sometimes hard to not blow up when some idiot starts gunning for you. But I try to avoid it, but like you wrote, it is in human nature.

Being a loner I don't feel the need to belong, but still enjoy some good contact with others in the world. As an insight, I long ago applied for the Dutch air-force as a short term volunteer. Had to do with the fact that I had to do my "civil service" in the army but liked to continue my education. The air-force had special programs for this. But I needed to take two tests first. The first one was for intelligence, which I nailed. The second one was for determining my psychology. Flunked that one. They told me in an evaluation that I was more suited for working in a laboratory on my own, and they where right.

The silly thing, when I did my "civil service" in the army they made me a sergeant based on my schooling. Did not matter that I was found not suited by the air-force for a similar position.

[Zero999]

I recently had to endure diversity training at work, when I did air some of my opinions, knowing full well I might have to look for a new job.

Luckily it's been 11 years since I last worked in big company, so I missed all that.
It would have been interesting to have seen what would happen when I spoke up and refused to do the training though 
And if they dare asked for my feedback they would have got the full James Demore engineering report treatment.

It's not a big company, more like medium sized.

I looked into it and there wasn't any way to get out of it. If your company mandates training, you have to do it, under pain of dismissal.

To be fair to my company, it wasn't that bad. Most of it was just about the law, which is fair enough. The things which did annoy most people were micro-aggressions and that we can't have any banter. I think enough people complained about that, so it wasn't necessary for me to have a rant. It could've been worse. It didn't go into gender ideology or critical race theory, in which case I would have told them to bugger off.

The worst one is the pride bollocks. Numerous companies put rainbows on their logos and websites, but only in countries where alphabet people aren't discriminated against. Their logos remain unchanged in Arabic countries. I can't stand it. It used to serve a purpose, back when it was illegal but now it just puts across negative stereotypes.

To me the problem lies in categorizing people into boxes. When the human race comes to the understanding that we are all just people and as such all different individuals and accept that these differences do not matter, there will be hope.

Your referral to alphabet people puts them in a box and from what I read what you write unintentionally.

And I'm not saying that we should not "discriminate" against the excesses in the differences, like putting criminals in jail, because there still is a need for rules and morals. Humankind just needs to stretch the morals where it comes to the sexually and gender or what have you different within the limits of some good sense. But that requires thinking, and I feel society is lacking that more and more. Not due to diminishing intelligence, but due to being indifferent. (Though I also have the feeling people are getting dumber)

Sure it is not easy and I confess to also be more alert when I see a dark skinned guy with a hoodie to name just a stereo type.

I agree, putting people in boxes is bad and is one of the problems I have with pride, which also puts a diverse range of people in one box.

The big problem is intersectionality. The idea that some groups are more oppressed than others, so deserve extra protection. A black person is more oppressed than a white person, but a black trans woman is even more oppressed. This is why we see some groups get special treatment.

[capt bullshot]

Neither watched the video nor read the comments,
but it's life advice time:

[SiliconWizard]

A black person is more oppressed than a white person, but a black trans woman is even more oppressed. This is why we see some groups get special treatment.

What about a black trans woman who identifies as non-binary though?

[Cerebus]

Yes, like the women who believe gender is a social construct. Well that's nice until you're in hospital being raped by a 6' 6" man who was placed on a female ward because he identifies a woman.

You're talking about two mutually exclusive subjects here. Whether or not you believe in the complexities of gender identity or not is neither here nor there. Rape is rape, regardless of the gender of the victim or the accused.

No, because rape as stated by UK law, can only be committed by a man. Women can commit other serious sexual assaults, but not rape. They don't have the equipment to do so.

This is covered by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and it doesn't say what seems to be being implied about the law. Rape, as a technical term, can only be committed with a penis, "[sexual] assault by penetration" can be done with any object or anatomy and carries the same penalties as rape. Both can be done to a male or a female. Colloquially one would call either rape so quibbling over the technical term that someone would be charged with seems a highly disingenuous way of avoiding the "Rape is rape, regardless of the gender of the victim or the accused" point that was made.