You took the words right out of my mouth but made them more coherent. It’s ironic that, if I put this common sense on Facebook, I would have leftists screaming at me, as only fundamentalists can do to an apostate. Congratulations, my friend.
Alas, dear Drew, when it comes to being group-think mobbed for the most urbane and respectful expression of DEI non-conformism (i.e., wanting actual diversity and inclusion inside the Australian Greens), you have first-hand experience. Sure, there was an internal ‘process’ (which was the punishment), and that involved some ‘talking’, but I gather there was no dialogue, only an inquisition. The only question on the table seemed to be ‘do you bow to the absolute and unquestionable truth of transgender ideology or are we going to ex-communicate you?’ The question of whether the Greens should interpret their pro-trans platform as part of a universal platform defending human rights, or as a strictly partisan and explicitly anti Gender Critical doctrine, got no oxygen. It seems you were required to conform to the silencing and exclusion of all Gender Critical voices from the Green Party, or you yourself would be expelled. No matter that you founded the party coming out of a free speech struggle with the Bjelke-Petersen government. No matter that many strong environmental activists formerly deeply involved with the Green political movement are traditional Radical Feminists who have excellent reasons (unlike the ersatz moral identity invective of queer gender ideology) to be unmovably committed to sex-based rights for women. DEI ideology is simply a tool of power. The Greens (and the ALP, and the LNP) have decisively rejected freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and the public truth-seeking debate of difference. They have turned free speech into compelled speech; they have replaced dialogue and openness with power and conformism. And so speech has become conformist power, which is simply violence by sanitized means. That violence by simple violent means is strongly on the rise in the Luny Left, and often sickly celebrated by Radical Rainbow fanatics, is, alas, also no surprise.
Excellent point Drew. The Left is riding on the firmly earned reputation of 'resort to the gun' on the Right to assert that anyone who disagrees with them is a violent Fascist. That reputation is indeed earned, but we are now seeing a swing in the other direction. This swing is recent, but it is consistent with the Fascist/Nazi/Far-Right/genocide extreme ‘performative’ rhetoric of the Rainbow Left. So why does the Sensible Left not push back against the inherently violent rhetoric of the Rainbow Left? I have seen you valiantly try, but wow – the speech code solidarity of extreme othering rhetoric is so entrenched its like ‘the Left’ is powerless to stop its own slide into violent extremism.
Whoever these people, there are not, by reasonable stretch of the imagination or the plain straightforward meaning of the term, in any way, "the Left", their own claims being the least significant or persuasive thereto
Accepted as given, but where is 'the Left' in rejecting the rhetoric and centrist group conformism pressently upholding the ideological tokens of victum idenity politics in both the 'center left' and 'centre right' in, say, Australina politics? I beleive we need a real uprising of shall we call it 'the real Left' (such as Drew Hutton), just like we need a real uprising of shall we call it 'the real Right' (people conserving meaningful traditions, and batting for real liberalism in poilitical expression), such as John Anderson. Which is to say there are figures of the real Left and the real Right on the peripheries of centrist Australian political life, but those in the centre who presumably have 'brand loyality' to the ALP and the LNP are not following these important leaders yet.
You said it. "Centrist group conformism". Joe Biden, hardly a creature of the Left, did as much as anyone, to establish the (in my view, deranged) hegemony of gender ideology in protocol and policy. The early Trans activists were wealthy lawyers and tech millionaires not Left activists. The Left fell hard for this foolishness, but didn't start it. You are of course correct that more Lefties should stand up and reject it. We might differ in that I think the Left will ultimately reject it just the vast majority rejected Stalinism. That caused a huge schism in the Left, but here we are.
Yes, here's hoping that peak woke has already passed. But its the "ultimately" that amazes me. How can anyone on the old school feminist Left or the culturally Christian conservative Right reject sex-based rights for women? How can anyone with a basic scientific education accept that a man can be a woman? How can sterilizing and mutilating confused boys and girls, and ASD teenager girls and young women be anything other than horrifying therapeutic and medical malpractice? Why are basic common sense truths taking so long to get mainstream political traction? In Australia and Canada the 'conservative' side of centrist politics is just as woke as the 'progressive' side of centrist politics, and the Greens are out there Far Left as the woke conscience for the Centre. Centrists politics is sufferng from a mass psychosis with policies and proceedures designed to keep the psychosis in place, driving any dissenter to the fringelands outside of the so called centre. But no-one seems to be standing up to the woke bullies who are gatekeeping order inside the party culture of the Centre Left and Centre Right. And as much as there are all sorts of reasons why one might thoroughly dislike Trump, he was, in effect, a big enough bully with a thick enough skin to thrive on being attacked as immoral, biggoted, insane, dispicable and popularist (even fascist) by his enemies, and to electorally capitalize on the disenfranchizement of the majority from woke orthodoxy. Why don't we have any leaders like that on the Left we could vote for?
$100m (!) to support "Feminist Political Mobilization and Leadership - which includes supporting transgender and gender non-conforming people and "communities".
Yes!! I've been sick at heart as I see another trans lunacy inspired killing white washed away by the media here in the US. Some would add to the woke body count the gruesome murder of Iryna Zarutska on a NC train, which was certainly disturbing as hell, but the insane individual seems a somewhat different issue from the mass phenomenon of justifying violence with political aims. Social Justice ideology does vilify white people and lessen incarceration so there may be a link. It's all so disheartening. Thank you for this excellent break down of the issues. Voices of reason are a lifeline in these mad times.
Of course they shut down argument as it is not based in objective truth … only in how they feel
No matter what they do to themselves they will never be a fully functioning member of the opposite sex and they will have harmed themselves in the process
You took the words right out of my mouth but made them more coherent. It’s ironic that, if I put this common sense on Facebook, I would have leftists screaming at me, as only fundamentalists can do to an apostate. Congratulations, my friend.
Alas, dear Drew, when it comes to being group-think mobbed for the most urbane and respectful expression of DEI non-conformism (i.e., wanting actual diversity and inclusion inside the Australian Greens), you have first-hand experience. Sure, there was an internal ‘process’ (which was the punishment), and that involved some ‘talking’, but I gather there was no dialogue, only an inquisition. The only question on the table seemed to be ‘do you bow to the absolute and unquestionable truth of transgender ideology or are we going to ex-communicate you?’ The question of whether the Greens should interpret their pro-trans platform as part of a universal platform defending human rights, or as a strictly partisan and explicitly anti Gender Critical doctrine, got no oxygen. It seems you were required to conform to the silencing and exclusion of all Gender Critical voices from the Green Party, or you yourself would be expelled. No matter that you founded the party coming out of a free speech struggle with the Bjelke-Petersen government. No matter that many strong environmental activists formerly deeply involved with the Green political movement are traditional Radical Feminists who have excellent reasons (unlike the ersatz moral identity invective of queer gender ideology) to be unmovably committed to sex-based rights for women. DEI ideology is simply a tool of power. The Greens (and the ALP, and the LNP) have decisively rejected freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and the public truth-seeking debate of difference. They have turned free speech into compelled speech; they have replaced dialogue and openness with power and conformism. And so speech has become conformist power, which is simply violence by sanitized means. That violence by simple violent means is strongly on the rise in the Luny Left, and often sickly celebrated by Radical Rainbow fanatics, is, alas, also no surprise.
Apparently political violence by the left has outpaced the right in 2025 for the first time since the 1960s.
Excellent point Drew. The Left is riding on the firmly earned reputation of 'resort to the gun' on the Right to assert that anyone who disagrees with them is a violent Fascist. That reputation is indeed earned, but we are now seeing a swing in the other direction. This swing is recent, but it is consistent with the Fascist/Nazi/Far-Right/genocide extreme ‘performative’ rhetoric of the Rainbow Left. So why does the Sensible Left not push back against the inherently violent rhetoric of the Rainbow Left? I have seen you valiantly try, but wow – the speech code solidarity of extreme othering rhetoric is so entrenched its like ‘the Left’ is powerless to stop its own slide into violent extremism.
Whoever these people, there are not, by reasonable stretch of the imagination or the plain straightforward meaning of the term, in any way, "the Left", their own claims being the least significant or persuasive thereto
Accepted as given, but where is 'the Left' in rejecting the rhetoric and centrist group conformism pressently upholding the ideological tokens of victum idenity politics in both the 'center left' and 'centre right' in, say, Australina politics? I beleive we need a real uprising of shall we call it 'the real Left' (such as Drew Hutton), just like we need a real uprising of shall we call it 'the real Right' (people conserving meaningful traditions, and batting for real liberalism in poilitical expression), such as John Anderson. Which is to say there are figures of the real Left and the real Right on the peripheries of centrist Australian political life, but those in the centre who presumably have 'brand loyality' to the ALP and the LNP are not following these important leaders yet.
You said it. "Centrist group conformism". Joe Biden, hardly a creature of the Left, did as much as anyone, to establish the (in my view, deranged) hegemony of gender ideology in protocol and policy. The early Trans activists were wealthy lawyers and tech millionaires not Left activists. The Left fell hard for this foolishness, but didn't start it. You are of course correct that more Lefties should stand up and reject it. We might differ in that I think the Left will ultimately reject it just the vast majority rejected Stalinism. That caused a huge schism in the Left, but here we are.
Yes, here's hoping that peak woke has already passed. But its the "ultimately" that amazes me. How can anyone on the old school feminist Left or the culturally Christian conservative Right reject sex-based rights for women? How can anyone with a basic scientific education accept that a man can be a woman? How can sterilizing and mutilating confused boys and girls, and ASD teenager girls and young women be anything other than horrifying therapeutic and medical malpractice? Why are basic common sense truths taking so long to get mainstream political traction? In Australia and Canada the 'conservative' side of centrist politics is just as woke as the 'progressive' side of centrist politics, and the Greens are out there Far Left as the woke conscience for the Centre. Centrists politics is sufferng from a mass psychosis with policies and proceedures designed to keep the psychosis in place, driving any dissenter to the fringelands outside of the so called centre. But no-one seems to be standing up to the woke bullies who are gatekeeping order inside the party culture of the Centre Left and Centre Right. And as much as there are all sorts of reasons why one might thoroughly dislike Trump, he was, in effect, a big enough bully with a thick enough skin to thrive on being attacked as immoral, biggoted, insane, dispicable and popularist (even fascist) by his enemies, and to electorally capitalize on the disenfranchizement of the majority from woke orthodoxy. Why don't we have any leaders like that on the Left we could vote for?
I thought you'd taken a step too far when you included George Soros as a promoter of gender ideology. But here it is!
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/newsroom/open-society-foundations-commit-100-million-to-support-feminist-political-mobilization-and-leadership
$100m (!) to support "Feminist Political Mobilization and Leadership - which includes supporting transgender and gender non-conforming people and "communities".
Very thoughtful essay, Paul. Well done.
Have restacked several times, along with excerpts.
Very kind comment Lisa. Thanks!
Yes!! I've been sick at heart as I see another trans lunacy inspired killing white washed away by the media here in the US. Some would add to the woke body count the gruesome murder of Iryna Zarutska on a NC train, which was certainly disturbing as hell, but the insane individual seems a somewhat different issue from the mass phenomenon of justifying violence with political aims. Social Justice ideology does vilify white people and lessen incarceration so there may be a link. It's all so disheartening. Thank you for this excellent break down of the issues. Voices of reason are a lifeline in these mad times.
Of course they shut down argument as it is not based in objective truth … only in how they feel
No matter what they do to themselves they will never be a fully functioning member of the opposite sex and they will have harmed themselves in the process