My Thoughts On: Musk's X Obsession, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Good morning,

I’m Sully, and this is my weekly debrief on amusing and important topics. Like what you’re reading? Share with your friends:

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Elon Musk is obsessed with the letter X apparently.

In a move that surprised many, and befuddled even more, Elon Musk this week suddenly announced that Twitter would be undergoing a rebrand. In a short tweet (or Xeet?) Musk shared that Twitter would be changing its name to X. Literally just the letter X. The goal? In Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino words, “X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine.”

I sincerely cannot tell if this is satire. It reads exactly like something Kendall Roy from HBO’s Succession said in an Episode about a fictional new product called “Living+”. But it's not the first time Musk tried to change a well known brand name to X. Let's take a stroll.

The year 1999 saw the launch of Cofinity’s first version of the PayPal electronic payments system, a brand name that quickly entered the public zeitgeist. “I’ll PayPal you” was a common saying, similar to today’s “What's your Venmo?”. In 2000, Cofinity and its PayPal brand merged with Elon Musk’s X.com.

I know what you’re thinking, but no, X.com is not an adult film site. X.com was Musk’s online financial service company, and over two decades ago it was the first indication we have of Musk’s obsession with the X branding. In fact, when Musk became acting CEO of this newly merged company, he pushed a full brand overhaul, hoping to get rid of the PayPal name.

There were just a couple of problems: Focus groups hated the X.com name. Participants seriously thought it was porn. Was this financial service company turning into an adult film studio? The board was of a similar mind, and didn’t exactly love the idea of dumping the PayPal brand which was achieving widespread awareness.

So Musk was ousted by the board in 2001 while he was on vacation. PayPal stayed PayPal, and for 20 years Musk I guess has been scheming for his next opportunity to use the X brand. So if you’ve ever wondered how many times one man can attempt to set fire to a multi-billion dollar brand name, the answer is at least two.

Bye Twitter!

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On The Pursuit of Happiness

In July, a law banning gender affirming care for minors in Tennessee was upheld by a federal judge. It’s one of more than 17 such bans that the US has seen passed over the previous few years, as a swell of palpable right-wing anger and media attention reaches a crescendo ahead of 2024.

If you watch cable news, or spend any amount of time on the internet you will have undoubtedly noticed an uptick in the discourse around the Transgender community and gender affirming care for the youth. Talking heads on cable news warn about the risks of gender affirming care. Militia groups are literally showing up at drag shows across the country because they think children are being groomed and abused by the Trans community. Bud Light is facing ongoing backlash from right-wing voters because apparently just existing as a trans person when you accept a sponsorship is enough to qualify as a “political agenda” on the sponsor’s part.

I am alarmed. But not because I believe there’s any truth to these claims, no, I am alarmed that these headlines flying across the internet, and media personalities fueling this sweeping paranoia are actually effective. And that a large portion of this country is hot and ready to vote away access to medical care for this community that they know quite literally nothing about. Because of this rhetoric, you may even be quietly supportive of all this recent legislation, or at least feeling concern that maybe there is an actual problem here our society needs to address. If you fall into this bucket, then this ones for you. My hope is to inform you about the reality of this situation, and to crack open your hearts and minds to this community who has long been ostracized.

This will be a two-parter, so buckle up.

Part 1: A Rebuttal

If you’ve been following this discourse, you will have seen a lengthy list of outlandish claims made against the Transgender community. The claims suggest a reality where hundreds of thousands, to even millions of children are receiving transition surgery at young ages. They suggest a reality where Democrats are trying to indoctrinate children against American values. This could not be further from the truth. Let’s look at the facts:

First and foremost, how big is the Transgender community? According to UCLA, only 0.5% of the US population identifies as transgender, equivalent to 1.64 million people. Of this tiny, tiny fraction of the population, about 300,000 are adolescents (ages 13+) or 0.09% of the total US population.

So now you know the relative size of this community. But how many adolescents in this 0.09% are currently receiving gender affirming care? Hell, what even is gender affirming care?

I would wager a guess that the vast majority of people reading this newsletter, and even the politicians proposing bans on gender affirming care probably have no idea how to answer that question. You may think it's as narrowly defined as the surgical removal of genitalia. But the truth is that gender-affirming care encompasses a whole swathe of practices and interventions, such as social recognition and hormone therapy, that already has stringent requirements to undergo:

• A finding that the youth has experienced several symptoms of gender dysphoria for at least six consecutive months.

• A letter of support from the youth’s licensed therapist and written concurrence from a mental health professional.

• Parental consent for those under 18.

• Ongoing psychotherapy aimed at addressing gender dysphoria.

Gender dysphoria is a diagnosable medical condition in which someone believes they were born as the wrong gender. Their brains are literally telling them that what they see in the mirror does not reflect who they feel they are. It is immensely distressing, made even worse by the way much of our society demonizes feelings of dysphoria in political, religious, and personal sectors of life. So collectively, this feeling of discordance with ones body, and the overwhelming message that something must be wrong with these people, has driven an astronomical suicide attempt rate among the trans community as high as 50%. So gender affirming care is nothing short of a life-saving medical intervention. But don’t just take it from me. Every major medical association in this country supports gender affirming care as a practice.

So now you know the actual size of the population, and a bit more about the kind of care they may receive. But how many adolescents are actually receiving care?

It may surprise you to learn that between 2019 and 2021, only 4,780 patients had initiated puberty blockers, and a total of 56 adolescents received genital surgeries among patients ages 13 to 17 with a prior gender dysphoria diagnosis, according to an analysis of insurance claims by Komodo. Fifty six! A far, far cry from what some media would have you believe.

Now, after reading all this, maybe you still think all minors should be blocked from receiving this care until they are an adult. Maybe you think that 56 number should be 0. But here is where I urge some critical reflection. Do you really feel that the sheer volume and force of all this legislative effort, the immense amount of inflammatory rhetoric, and ceaseless media attention about the Trans community even remotely reflects the actual reality of the situation? Do you feel so strongly about this topic that you are going to let it sway your vote? I hope you think otherwise. Between wealth inequality, the housing crisis, and everything in between, there are actual issues we need to address that impact all of us. A medical decision that a tiny fraction of the population makes with their provider should not be any of our business.

Bans on gender affirming care do nothing to improve anyone’s life, and worsens everything about someone else’s. I strongly feel that if we as a country take the massive step of legislating away access to something, particularly medical care, then we better have all the facts straight. And right now, too many people don’t.

In America we are guaranteed Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. And that pursuit of Happiness extends to everyone. To communities whose lifestyles you may not agree with, whose personal choices you may never understand, and whose experiences are far different than your own. There are 331+ million of us in America, meaning there are 331+ million unique ways happiness is being pursued.

So when you see the headlines swirling about these gender affirming care bans, and politicians warning you that your children are in danger, I want you to pause and think about what the actual reality is, and more importantly, how much damage this is all inflicting on an already vulnerable and ostracized community.

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I recognize this is a heavy topic, and some people don’t know how to feel about it. My hope is that informing you with facts will give you a foundation to inform others. My advice? Lead with empathy and maturity. I’d also recommend reading up on this topic directly from trans authors, like Helen Santoro who can put this into words far better than I can.

In Part 2 next week I will be exploring the why behind this recent rise of legislation and media coverage of the trans community, and how money from some behind-the-scenes groups is using this topic as an election issue for 2024.