Trans Empiricism vs the Theory of Herbert Marcuse
Or why I have a completely different worldview to the activist establishment
Revisiting Trans Empiricism
So what is trans empiricism? Basically, it's taking an empirical approach to the phenomenon of transgenderism, for lack of a better term. To be empirical is simply to be committed to the objective truth, and base our claims on observable evidence. In the empirical approach, observable evidence is taken to be the best representation of the truth. Empiricism is useful because it grounds our thinking in objective reality, and arguably protects us from sophistry. Using an empiricist lens, we can observe the following facts, regarding the trans phenomenon:
Firstly, trans people exist, and they comprise less than 1% of the population.
Secondly, the vast majority of trans people suffer from gender dysphoria, and transition because they want to alleviate their gender dysphoria.
Finally, gender is correlated with genetic sex in more than 99% of cases in the general population.
An extension to this point is that, there is a clear difference between trans people, and non-trans people, therefore the experiences of one group cannot be generalized to the other. This is a very important point I will come back to.
The aforementioned empirical observations form the foundation of the trans empiricist argument. This is a strong foundation for effectively untangling some of the most heated debates around gender and trans people today. This will help us move on from such arguments, so we can focus on more constructive discussions.
How the Theory Left Drove People to the Reactionary Right
The problem with the Theory Left is that they are rooted in theoretical philosophy, rather than the practical facts of the real world. This means they produce the wrong diagnoses of social problems, and provide the wrong solutions. Most problematically, they also have a strong bias against long-standing social institutions like marriage, family and other pillars of traditional communities, due to the critical theory worldview seeing them as upholding an 'oppressive' system. A major effect of Theory Left's ideas and practices, especially their attempts to deconstruct and 'liberate' everything, is that they have served to weaken the social fabric significantly over the past five decades. This, in turn, has deprived what many people need most, strong and stable family-based support networks, and a strong sense of community, as well as the sense of security this provides. These people are naturally going to be attracted to reactionary conservatism, which promises to stem the decline, and restore society to its former state. Even though in practice they have not been successful in doing this, the very promise, the very idea, has been attractive for many people, who have nowhere else to turn.
In the past decade, there was another wave of Theory Left activism that drove even more people to the Right in another way, through their unreasonable insistence that their ideas be accepted without debate. This attitude is rooted in the theory that knowledge and discourse is rooted in power and oppression, which totally goes against both practical common sense and the ideals of the Enlightenment. But more importantly, this attitude just isn't going to be acceptable to most people. During the past decade, I have read many stories about formerly moderately progressive people being turned to the hard Right after they encountered the unreasonable attitude of the Theory Left. Some like to deny this reality, but I believe it's something that actually happened to a significant extent.
The Real Problem with Repressive Tolerance by Herbert Marcuse
To put it simply, 'repression' and 'oppression' refer to different things. Marcuse was clearly aware of this, given that both terms were used in the essay. To understand what Marcuse meant by repression, I think we need to look at the broader context of Marcuse's work. Much has been said about Marcuse's roots in Marx, but I think Marcuse's worldview, and hence the Western Theory Left in general, owes even more to a particular interpretation of Freudian psychoanalysis. Those familiar with Marcuse's work would know that when he used 'repression', he meant it in the Freudian psychoanalytic sense. Hence, given the title of the essay was 'repressive tolerance' and not 'oppressive tolerance', his main complaint against the free market of ideas was that 'repressive' cultural values could prevail. Of course, there also appears to be a conflation of 'repression' and 'oppression' throughout this work and some of his other works, so sometimes his works have been used to justify withdrawing tolerance from oppressive ideas. But it is clear that he is rather more concerned about 'repression' than 'oppression'. Indeed, those familiar with Marcuse's 1955 book Eros and Civilization would know that Marcuse disagreed with Freud that repression is inevitable in civilization, as he devoted an entire book to his counter argument that society could be reorganized so as to minimize the need for 'repression', which he thought was the key to making human beings happier. This provides further evidence that Marcuse was actually primary concerned with liberation from Freudian repression, rather than ending oppression in the social justice sense.
The more important thing is that, the influence of the Marcusean worldview, which was indeed very influential among the student activists of the late 1960s and the 1970s, means that in much of the Theory Left's theory, oppression, as in the social injustice sense, and repression, as in the Freudian sense, are often conflated. This, in turn, is related to the fact that Marcusean 'liberation' is very different from our conventional understanding of liberation, in that it is ultimately about removing Freudian repression, rather than simply removing social injustice. To a large extent, many on the Theory Left appear to even be no longer consciously aware of the difference. However, social oppression and Freudian repression are two very distinct concepts. To get to the bottom of all this, and to understand one of the core problems of the Theory Left, I think we need to end this conflation once and for all.
Is This The Real Reason for Cancel Culture?
In conclusion, there really is no reason to practice cancel culture, the set of practices informed by the logic of Repressive Tolerance, for social justice reasons. Free speech and rational debate has a strong track record in delivering victories for social justice. Rather, the Theory Left has been under the influence of the Marcusean conflation of Freudian repression with social oppression for so long that they are basically unconsciously serving a completely different goal, that is, the abolishment of the civilized restraint of our primal instincts. Such a goal can only be achieved by abolishing free speech, because most rational people wouldn't support it. It is also a goal not worthy of supporting, or even serious consideration, because it will basically destroy civilization as we know it.
Are Trans Activists Confusing Oppression and Repression?
However, if 'assimilationist' is interpreted as being okay with Freudian repression (as long as it's equal and fair), and 'liberationist' is interpreted as liberation from all repression and restrain, then it suddenly makes sense. After all, marriage is repressive in a Freudian sense, and so is being part of mainstream society, and it makes sense that these anti-repression 'liberationists' wouldn't want those things. Therefore, the self-proclaimed 'liberationists' are basically people who base their whole politics around anti-repression, like Marcuse did, and the people they decry as 'assimilationists' are basically people who reject the Marcusean approach.
The problem with an 'anti-repressive' LGBT politics is that it doesn't actually make life better for LGBT people. The anti-repressive radicals of the 20th century weren't successful with decriminalizing homosexuality in most places. Their very public displays of 'righteous anger' and their deliberate offence against polite society arguably slowed down the progress. Instead, it was the people they decried as 'assimilationists', who tirelessly made their case in a calm and rational manner, who got the job done in the following decades. The same kind of people went on to win marriage equality, by getting the public on their side.
Just as things were getting better, the 'anti-repressive' side of the movement gained an upper hand again, and started using their 'righteous anger' to de-platform people who disagree with them, while accusing those of us who don't support these actions as playing 'respectability politics'. The same 'anti-repressive' activists also support including displays many are uncomfortable with in Pride parades, because that's supposedly liberation from repression. Meanwhile, these activists continue to ignore the rising backlash resulting from their actions among the general public, especially towards the trans community. You know, there really is nothing liberating about antics that alienate the public and make LGBT lives harder in the real world. In fact, I think this approach to 'LGBT liberation' is basically self-defeating.