The Ravens Nest

Culture War, not in entertainment but in waking life…

Hear me out for just a moment. I’m going to start by saying that, if you are a grown and fully-developed adult (We’ll say 21 since that’s been the push from most government bureaus for awhile now) then I support, 100%, you doing whatever you damn well please, however, I only ask that you suffer the consequences for good or ill on your own. That’s it. It’s not an unreasonable thing to ask.

We know age of majority is 18 in most, if not all states. This is when the state considers you adult enough to vote. In some states, you can, at that age purchase beer or other alcoholic beverages, though that is something that is becoming extremely rare if it hasn’t already.

In most states, the age of 21 is going to be the age where your total freedoms open up. You can purchase a gun, ammo, alcohol, tobacco, even weed for recreational use in many cases. You can also get a tattoo or other body modifications.

Personally, I’m not without experimentation myself. Started smoking at 15 years old, got my first earring at 16, second one at 19, the last two at…well after 30. Bought beer on my 21st birthday, and bought my first legal pack of cigarettes at 18. Tried weed a few times in my late teens. Yep, I was doing it on an extremely limited basis when it wasn’t legal. Spent the entire career in corrections completely sober save for the occasional drink or two over the weekend. On many levels, I liked my job and didn’t want to lose it to a hot piss test, plus, I was dealing with convicted felons who wanted to skirt rules on a spectrum that I had to enforce. As much as I may have lamented wanting the occasional joint, guess what? I could have it! Probably would get away with it too! But it was a risk/reward kind of thing and the safest way for me was abstinence. I was only drug tested on three occasions in nearly a decade, averaging a test every 3 years or so. Not bad but certainly unpredictable enough to where even a rumor could get you tested. Sorry for the digression, let’s get back to the topic on hand.

The thing I’m really talking about these days is the fact that Texas has just passed a law that states that the transitioning of children, and by children, I’m assuming anyone under 21.

When I questioned the logic of allowing me at the age of 18 to handle millions of dollars in military equipment, being trained to kill someone else in the most efficient manner and have a say in policy that could drive not just my nation but my own community against having a drink, what was shared with me is that the body doesn’t really stop developing until 21. Obviously, I’m oversimplifying the explanation here but going with that, I don’t see it as unreasonable to also hold gender transitioning to the age of 21.

I’m not against gender transitioning. I’m not against same-sex or interracial relationships. The only thing I’m truly against is forcing perspective onto others in a way that is completely unreasonable. This goes primarily for children. I’m with the crowd that is emphatically stating “Leave The Children Alone.” It’s not unreasonable in the least. Honestly, I also think that voting and military service should also have the age bar raised to 21 …to a degree and I’m only talking about here in the U.S., not any other country.

The people whom have navigated childhood, adolescence and early adulthood with good guidance, can employ critical thinking skills and can handle their own lives without bothering anyone else in the process, hey, do what you want, I’m not going to interfere. That’s fine. You’ve obviously weighed the pros and cons and you’ve decided on your path and, for good or ill, that’s your path. That’s what every responsible person should be taught to do. Look at a situation, think on it, weigh out every possibility you can think of, discuss with others, understand where the sticking points may be and how you’re going to navigate them responsibly and then, after all is said, done and put to bed, act.

For me, I mentioned my corrections career. Sure, I’d have loved to have imbibed in a little weed even then. I thought the laws around weed were Draconian and stupid and based in fear and not fact. However right I may be, may have been and even will be in the future, I knew one thing. If I did partake and I pissed hot or some other test showed I’d used in the last 30 days (that’s all those tests do, by the way, they do not show a level of impairment…let that sink in) I knew I’d be fired and paying my bills and keeping things going was more important to me than that joint, tea or even the brownies that I might be able to obtain. I had a choice to make and I made it.

Even today, with things as relaxed as they are, some of us have no way of knowing in some workplaces what that would look like and, in some workplaces, it would be understandable. For instance, if I’m at a job operating heavy machinery, they’d probably prefer that I not partake and, if the job is paying well enough that I’m staying well ahead of the curve, I don’t think I’mma mind all that much just letting weed be an afterthought and keeping it at that. If the workplace doesn’t mind, it doesn’t mean I’m gonna spend my days hooked up to a bong doing massive rips with Thanos carved into it, snapping half my brain out of existence. Maybe I won’t even be interested in using but maybe every few months. Why do I say that? Because that’s how often I drink, maybe every few months…if that.

More digression aside, there needs to be an emphasis on the fact that we all have decisions to make and a life-altering decision such as this should not be made by parents alone, and certainly not based on the fact that the male kid picked up a doll to play with it because he may have been curious as to what it was and why it’s there among his sister’s things.

These “trans kids” and “Gender-affirming care” for children (minors) comes from a deep, dark, destructive and, frankly, violent ideology that makes the adult who made a transition who just wants to live their lives as what they present without bothering anyone look bad in comparison. I have trans friends who express their distaste at this along with me and they look at the parent or parents and think “What is wrong with you?” In my opinion, rightfully so.

I have some reasonable alternatives. If your male child is messing with makeup, why not show them what people have done with makeup over the years. The realm of theatre need people with good skills in that field. Now you’re doing something constructive, giving that child a potential career path and it very well may be a phase. What if they took face-painting and texturing to something like the table-top for an RPG? What if they took those painting skills and made terrain or started a cottage business painting miniatures that are 3-D printed and selling them after they design them? At least this way, you’re not disrupting their development and you’re giving them something that encourages them, builds them up and truly educates them on how business operates? Why is something like this so unreasonable?

I don’t really have all the answers, however, I still believe that, as I firmly take my step into middle age here, that I do have some alternatives that may, in the long term, produce something positive. If it’s hysteria you want, though, I recommend Def Leppard’s album of the same name, it’s truly a classic. Thanks for reading.

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