Dear Friends, Two numbers

510,000 <10

Just to keep things simple, instead of less than 10 let’s say 9, the closest whole number that is still less than 10. So:

510,000 9

Which number is larger? I’m going to go with 510,000.

But how much larger: just a little, quite a lot, a lot, a helluva lot, a whole helluva lot?

A whole helluva lot sounds pretty close.

So much for the numbers themselves. But now, what if they are not just numbers, but amounts of things? Which one has more weight? That depends on the things. For example, if the 9 are large corporations and the 510,000 are small businesses, the 9 might easily outweigh the 510,000. But if the 510,000 and the 9 are roughly the same kind of thing, the same size, say, then the 9 are clearly and vastly outweighed.

Let’s say that they are roughly the same. Are the 510,000 endangered by the 9? I suppose you could come up with an example, but it would have to stretch “roughly the same” to the limit. If there’s going to be endangerment it’s much more likely that the 9 will be endangered. Maybe it’s time to say what these numbers are:

These are the numbers given in a Congressional Hearing by Charlie Baker, president of the NCAA.

A hypothesis: these two numbers, on their own, entirely demolish the transphobe campaign in its vicious, malevolent, mendacious entirety. Whadda’ya think?

They only refer to trans athletes, trans women athletes above all. But they point to a broader fact: trans people make up a very small percentage of the population. Stop the lies about trans women athletes, and then it’ll be possible to think about trans people overall. They are a very small percentage of the population, but they are the most vulnerable group in society, the most subject to violence and abuse. That is the real problem.

Love and solidarity,

Bobby