Gene, JIIVE, ChapGPT, and Project 2025

I’m sitting with my friend Moe, founder of JIIVE, and we are running through the despicable list of sex predators—Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, P. Diddy, President elect Trump—and get to talking about why the American public did not hold Trump to the same standard as these others: racism. These other men were groomed to feel like they belonged to a certain class of society that Trump was born into and felt entitled to its privileges and got punished for it. It is a certain class of society that should not exist.

Our conversation turns to our hopes and fears. He is hoping that with a convicted felon in the highest position of authority in the land that more people will be willing to reconsider how they approach justice impacted individuals. Just this last year Minnesota granted voting rights to people with felonies, and while this certainly is a step in the right direction, there are still barriers to opportunity. These barriers start with the justice and carceral systems. For example, before Moe transitioned to speaking with me, he was on the line discussing the level of food instability in prisons and how much land there is that could be put toward gardening and sustaining a community and the obstacles to this.

Laughing a little because the guys at my cigar lounge promised to hide me out in the basement if this ever became a reality and give me as much pipe tobacco and cigars as I want, I mention the very real threat that if they implement Project 2025, I could end up incarcerated as a transexual and author of what they might deem pornography, although it is not explicit—it simply deals with transition. Moe does not think this anecdote about the basement is very funny as he believes it is a sign that they are not willing to fight to see that we do not allow our country to get to that point. He insists I dig into Project 2025 and find where this language was written, so we can warn the American public about what is coming in January. His plan is to run it through AI and create viral TikTok videos.  

I am writing this the day after meeting with him, and he is meeting with Rep. Ilhan Omar today. He has yet to have the chance to run the AI, so I thought I would try my hand at it—one of my first times using AI. At first, I asked ChapGPT for a summary of Project 2025, and it was very vague and had a touch of duplicity in language compared to the sections I read in-depth the night before to Moe. For example, the summary suggests that at the hands of a conservative think tank we will be “restoring constitutional governance, reducing the size of government, and ensuring that the judiciary aligns with conservative principles”; however, in reading closer, there will be more government tracking of our data and more government influence on states and individuals. Additionally, when it discusses restoring constitutional governance, it talks about retracting amendments as related to Civil Rights legislation; whereby, ignoring the legal system implemented in our country for a version of their own choosing.

Being that ChapGPT was extremely limited in the answers it could give me, I started to tweak my prompts for it based on what I had gleaned from various sections of the text. Here is some of what it responded below:

·       The project takes issue with federal enforcement of "equity" initiatives that, in their view, lead to discriminatory practices or reverse discrimination. This includes initiatives that focus on racial quotas, diversity mandates, or other policies that they argue disproportionately prioritize race or identity over merit or individual rights.

·       Advocating for a more limited role of Title VI enforcement, … the focus is on preventing what they see as overreach in areas like race-based discipline policies or gender-based protections that could conflict with traditional values and legal principles.

·       The project suggests limiting federal funding for abortion services, potentially cutting funding to Planned Parenthood and other organizations that provide abortions or related services. This includes restricting taxpayer dollars from supporting abortion procedures through programs like Medicaid.

·       While Project 2025 does not explicitly use the term "personhood," the project aligns with pro-life legal arguments that consider the fetus as a person deserving of protection under the law. This includes efforts to pass laws or promote constitutional amendments that grant legal rights to fetuses, ensuring that they cannot be killed through abortion.

·       It would likely advocate for reorienting programs that fund family planning, reproductive health services, or sexual education to align with pro-life principles.

·       While it does not directly target fertility calendars or tracking, the project supports policies that promote alternatives to abortion, such as encouraging natural family planning methods and supporting pro-life pregnancy care centers…This could mean supporting educational initiatives or resources that promote tracking a woman's fertility cycle as a way to plan or prevent pregnancies without the use of hormonal birth control or abortion … Its opposition to certain types of birth control coverage could suggest a preference for fertility awareness methods as alternatives to hormonal contraceptives.

·       The project supports policies that uphold traditional views of gender, emphasizing biological sex as the basis for sex-specific policies in areas such as healthcare, sports, and social services … advocating for a more cautious approach to gender dysphoria and emphasizing psychological counseling … aims to reinforce the idea that legal distinctions should be made based on biological sex rather than gender identity. This could involve efforts to limit the scope of policies like the **Equal Protection Clause** of the 14th Amendment or other laws that extend protections to transgender individuals in public accommodations, healthcare, and education.

·       Its key goals are to ensure that faith-based organizations and healthcare providers are not forced to perform or facilitate services that conflict with their religious beliefs, such as providing gender-affirming care or recognizing same-sex marriages. This includes issues like ensuring insurance coverage for gender-affirming surgeries or treatments and requiring healthcare providers to use preferred pronouns or recognize gender identities. The project would likely support rolling back such regulations within HHS and other federal agencies. This includes supporting policies that oppose the recognition of same-sex marriages in certain contexts or limiting adoption rights for LGBT couples.

·       DEI programs, which are designed to promote inclusion of diverse groups in workplaces, education, and government institutions, are seen by many conservatives as ideological and as promoting left-wing social agendas. Project 2025 is highly critical of such programs, especially in government and federal agencies, which would likely include Health and Human Services. Project 2025 advocates for limiting or eliminating DEI mandates in government agencies, believing they are divisive and counterproductive. The project seeks to replace such programs with … Conversion Therapy … The conservative movement, of which it is a part, has generally been sympathetic to supporting ‘therapy’ aimed at changing sexual orientation or gender identity.

·       It advocates for a ‘return to traditional values’ concerning gender and sexuality and would likely support policies that encourage conversion therapy for individuals who express gender dysphoria or same-sex attraction and limit the availability of gender-affirming care and promote alternatives that align with more traditional views of sexual identity. Its emphasis on traditional family values could be interpreted as supporting therapies or interventions aimed at encouraging people to accept heterosexual and cisgender identities. Its discussion of religious liberty might be seen as a way to justify practices that align with traditional or religious views on sexuality and gender.

Explain WOKE POLICIES under Project 2025

Under Project 2025, ‘woke policies’ are broadly framed as a set of progressive social and cultural agendas that the project’s authors argue are undermining traditional values and leading to what they see as the ‘ideological overreach of the federal government.’ These ‘woke’ policies are seen as prioritizing identity politics, social justice, and inclusive practices in ways that conservatives believe create division and disrupt traditional institutions.

In the context of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Project 2025's approach to ‘woke policies’ focuses on reducing the federal government's involvement in promoting what it views as ‘divisive or politically correct’ social policies, particularly those related to gender identity, race, and sexuality.

Key Aspects of "Woke Policies" under Project 2025 in HHS:

1. **Opposition to Identity Politics**:

   - Project 2025 critiques what it sees as the prioritization of identity-based policies, including race, gender, and sexual orientation. The project argues that these policies encourage division rather than unity, fostering an environment where people are more focused on their identities than on their individual merits or shared American values.

   - It advocates for policies that **deemphasize identity-based classifications** in health and human services, including programs and regulations that prioritize or emphasize race, gender identity, and sexual orientation.

2. **Gender Ideology and Gender Affirmation**:

   - One of the key areas of concern in Project 2025’s critique of "woke policies" is the recognition of **gender identity** as separate from biological sex. Project 2025 expresses opposition to policies that encourage or normalize **gender-affirming care**, especially for minors. This includes the use of **hormonal treatments** or **gender-affirming surgeries** for children and adolescents.

   - The project advocates for a return to traditional views of gender as binary (male and female) and emphasizes policies that promote **biological sex** as the defining characteristic for healthcare and social services rather than **gender identity**.

3. **Restrictions on Religious Liberty**:

   - "Woke" policies are also seen by Project 2025 as a threat to **religious liberty**, especially when government mandates force faith-based institutions (hospitals, adoption agencies, and social service organizations) to adhere to policies that contradict their beliefs. This includes being forced to adopt inclusive policies for LGBT individuals or providing services like gender-affirming care.

   - Project 2025 supports **expanding religious exemptions**, allowing faith-based organizations to operate according to their moral convictions, even when those convictions conflict with "woke" or progressive policies on issues like LGBTQ rights or abortion.

4. **Opposition to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Initiatives**:

   - Project 2025 strongly criticizes **DEI** programs within federal agencies, including those administered by **Health and Human Services**. It views these initiatives as forms of **"social engineering"** that prioritize diversity and equity at the expense of merit and individual freedom.

   - The project advocates for the elimination of DEI mandates and seeks to replace them with policies that focus on **individual merit** rather than group identity. In the realm of HHS, this could translate into a push to end requirements for health and human services providers to implement DEI training, hire based on diversity metrics, or adopt policies that account for race or gender identity in healthcare services.

5. **Restricting Federal Influence in Local and State Policies**:

   - Project 2025 seeks to **reduce federal influence** in areas where it believes "woke" policies have expanded, particularly in areas like **public health** and **education**. This means giving states and local governments more authority to determine their own healthcare, education, and welfare policies without the imposition of federally mandated "woke" standards.

   - For example, it would likely support measures to prevent HHS from enforcing federal regulations that require schools or hospitals to recognize gender identity in medical records or provide transgender care services, arguing that these decisions should be left to individual states or private institutions.

6. **Criticism of Intersectionality**:

   - Project 2025 rejects the concept of **intersectionality**, which is often central to "woke" ideologies. Intersectionality focuses on the overlapping social identities that people hold (e.g., race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) and how these identities shape their experiences of privilege or oppression. The project argues that this framework leads to **fragmentation** and **identity-based victimhood**, promoting division rather than unity.

7. **Reaffirming Traditional Family Values**:

   - In opposition to progressive social policies, Project 2025 seeks to strengthen **traditional family values**, including the promotion of **heterosexual marriage** and **biological children**. It aims to reduce the influence of policies that promote non-traditional family structures or those that prioritize LGBT rights in adoption, healthcare, or other social services.

   - This could manifest in policies that push back against "woke" agendas that promote **same-sex marriage** or **LGBT adoption rights** under HHS or other federal programs, framing these policies as incompatible with traditional family structures.

Summary:

In Project 2025, ‘woke policies’ are seen as a threat to ‘traditional American values,’ and particularly to the functioning of agencies like Health and Human Services. The project aims to roll back the influence of progressive social policies related to gender identity, race, and LGBTQ rights, seeking to promote a return to traditional norms around gender, family, and social structure. The project critiques ‘identity politics’ and diversity initiatives, advocating for merit-based approaches, religious liberty protections, and the autonomy of states to make decisions on issues like gender-affirming care and LGBT inclusion (ChapGPT).

I’m revising the last sentence ChapGPT gave me here: Project 2025 seeks to promote policies that emphasize division based on identity.