Gen Z and Gender Ideology by the Numbers

Excerpt from "Understanding and Saving Gen Z To Save America," by Scott Atlas:

Gen Z’s dysfunction is undeniable. They average nine hours daily on screens, over three hours on social media, eroding real-world connections. This fuels asocial behavior, surging loneliness, and poor mental health; only half favor personal over virtual interactions. Financially, they falter: 55% find homeownership harder, 44% struggle to secure jobs, and 55% see promotions as elusive, fostering underachievement. Employers note that 65% of recent college graduates feel entitled, 63% are easily offended, and 55% lack professionalism and work ethic. Mental health crises are rampant, with depression, anxiety, and hopelessness spiking, especially among liberal-leaning youth, driven by a victimhood culture amplified by social media.

With regard to Gender Ideology, Gen Z's staggering numbers suggest social contagion:

Gen Z’s psychological frailty sets the stage for unique vulnerability to social contagion, suggested by the explosion of gender confusion. Transgender identification among young adults surged from 0.59% in 2014 to 3.08% in 2023 – a 422% increase – with non-binary identities up 1260% and transgender men quadrupling (309%), driven by social media echo chambers and peer pressure. Gallup’s 2025 poll shows LGBTQ+ identification at 9.3% overall, nearly triple 3.5% in 2012, doubling in five years, with over 23% of Gen Z (born 1997-2006) identifying as such. The Williams Institute’s 2025 poll estimates over 724,000 transgender youth.

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Michael Shellenberger: The Political Left Needs to Renounce Violence

Michael Shellenberger, at Public:

"Why did they engage in so much dehumanization for so long? In large part, the reason is because Kirk challenged left wing mythology on gender, race and modern feminism. One cannot change one's sex through drugs, surgery or magical thinking. Kirk and other conservatives noted. There is no epidemic of police officers killing black men. In fact, the numbers declined dramatically from the 1970s to the birth of black lives matter. Black Americans commit crimes at numbers clearly disproportionate to their share of the population, and some research does, in fact, suggests that liberal, secular women report more mental health issues and lower life satisfaction than conservative, religious women who are more likely to be married and to have children.

The left cannot tolerate these challenges to its worldview, and so it resorts to censorship and silencing. The share of college students who support using violence to stop a campus speech rose from 24% to 34% between 2021 and 2025 poignantly, in April, Kirk himself posted on x about rising support for violence on the left. Assassination culture is spreading on the left. He noted, 48% of liberals say it would be at least somewhat justified to murder Elon Musk. 55% said the same thing about Donald Trump.

In California. It's simply not good enough now for Democratic politicians like Newsom and news media outlets like the New York Times, who spent the last decade dehumanizing millions of their fellow citizens, including Trump and Kirk, to simply say that they shouldn't be killed. If they truly oppose political violence, they should apologize for their relentless false accusations of racism and bigotry, and they should try to make amends by humanizing conservatives.

The media Democrats and the wider left must stop portraying MAGA supporters who have Christian nationalist and conservative views as equivalent to Nazis and fascists through the use of loaded terms like "Far Right."

Let us all come together and condemn violence of any kind. Said former MSNBC commentator Dowd, in his apology. Well, if he really means that, then he and others at MSNBC, The New York Times, the Democratic Party, must go further and renounce their own demonization of Kirk, Trump and other conservatives, We have little confidence that the Left will apologize or change its behavior for many of the same reasons the Left dehumanized Kirk in the first place. The mainstream view of the left today, as represented by everyone from Democrats in Congress to the New York Times to NPR and PBS, is that Western civilization itself is corrupt and evil. The Democratic Party of the last roughly 12 years has lost any semblance of being a Liberal Party and has become an overtly illiberal radical Left one

From the Left's reaction to the assassination, more Americans and people around the world will see that the Left hated and still hates Kirk precisely because he loved Western civilization and fought to conserve it. If any Democrats and progressives really want to end political violence, they would stop encouraging fanaticism and instead embrace dialog and debate. They would go beyond simply writing articles, and instead go to colleges and universities and start having honest conversations about race, sex, gender and other issues essential to discussing it openly, if we were to move forward as a country.

They would stop accusing their political opponents of spreading hate or misinformation and instead listen to what they actually have to say. That's what is so important to our country, is to find our disagreements respectfully because when people stop talking, said, Kirk. That's when violence happens. Thanks for listening."

Continue ReadingMichael Shellenberger: The Political Left Needs to Renounce Violence

J.K. Rowling’s Individual Points Regarding Gender Ideology

Speaking of assassinations, J.K. Rowling occasionally posts some of the many death threats she receives. They are shocking in their intensity and details. What has she done to deserve these threats? She recently took the time to spell out her positions on gender ideology. I follow these issues closely and I largely agree with her on these issues (though I have other opinions too and some of my view are more nuanced). This makes me wonder. Instead of framing the issue broadly as one of "gender ideology," I wonder how people would respond to the individual points that Rowling raises below? Or, at least, how would they respond if they could vote by secret ballot, without any fear that someone would harm or kill them? I assume that almost all people would agree with many or most of her positions. I would like to see the data.

Here is Rowling's Sept 1, 2025 post:

Here is Rowling's Sept 1, 2025 post:

As another man who once worked with me declares himself saddened by my beliefs on gender and sex, I thought it might be useful to compile a list for handy reference. Which of the following do you imagine makes actors and directors who aren’t involved with the HBO reboot of Harry Potter so miserable?

Is it my belief that women and girls should have their own public changing rooms and bathrooms?

That women should retain female-only rape crisis centres?

That men don’t belong in women’s sport?

That female prisoners shouldn’t be incarcerated with violent men and male sex offenders?

That women should remain a protected class in law, because they have sex-specific needs and issues?

That language should reflect reality rather than ideological jargon, especially in a medical context?

That women shouldn’t be harassed, persecuted or fired for refusing to pretend humans can change sex?

That women should not be threatened with violence and rape when they assert their rights?

That freedom of speech and belief are essential to a pluralistic democratic society?

That troubled minors, especially those who are gay, autistic and trauma-experienced, should be given mental health support instead of irreversible surgeries and drug treatments on non-existent evidence of benefit?

That gay people shouldn’t be pressured to include the opposite sex in their dating pools, nor should they be smeared as ‘genital fetishists’ when they don’t?

That cross-dressing heterosexual male fetishists aren’t actually oppressed, but having the time of their lives piggybacking off gender identity ideology?

That said ideology, and the privileged, blinkered fools pushing it because they suffer zero consequences themselves, have done more damage to the political left’s credibility than Trump and Farage could have achieved in a century?

Let me have your thoughts.

Here's a good way to end this post, with Rowlings' post from yesterday:

If you believe free speech is for you but not your political opponents, you're illiberal.

If no contrary evidence could change your beliefs, you're a fundamentalist.

If you believe the state should punish those with contrary views, you're a totalitarian.

If you believe political opponents should be punished with violence or death, you're a terrorist.

Continue ReadingJ.K. Rowling’s Individual Points Regarding Gender Ideology

The Disastrous Effect of US Trade Policy on the US Middle Class

I agree with David Sacks here. To see the disastrous effects of US trade policy on the US middle class, take a road trip through America's many decimated town and small cities.

BTW, a lot of the people who worked these middle class jobs were men. How are men doing in education and the job market now that many of these jobs no longer exist? Steve Stewart-Williams tells us in his article, "The Other Half: Six gender gaps we rarely talk about" Here are his conclusions:

  • Young Women Now Often Out-Earn Young Men

  • Boys Are Falling Behind at School

  • Fewer Men Are Finishing College

  • More Men Die on the Job

  • Men’s Health Gets Less Funding

  • Men Are More Likely to Take Their Own Lives

Continue ReadingThe Disastrous Effect of US Trade Policy on the US Middle Class