this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
293 points (98.0% liked)
196
16296 readers
2292 users here now
Be sure to follow the rule before you head out.
Rule: You must post before you leave.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
They do? I thought circumcision tended to be more of a right-wing thing.
Sadly there are many otherwise progress people whom I've encountered that don't see the issue with it, or even like it because they prefer how it looks.
I agree making the decision to circumcise based on appearance or ignorance about the benefits of having an intact foreskin is silly. I think there is an argument for circumcision at birth, in the US, where we don't have free health care.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537143/#:~:text=It%20affects%20approximately%201%20in,retract%20back%20over%20the%20penis
I think the decreased risk of balanitis is worth the loss in nerve endings because it probably saves a decent number of uninsured families from having to pay expensive medical bills later. This national average is how much it can cost for adults apparently.
https://www.mdsave.com/procedures/adult-circumcision/d781f9ce/california
Just another reason for a single-payer healthcare system for the pile I guess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCSWbTv3hng
Adam mostly convinced me with his video on why people get circumcised in the US, but I did have a friend who got this infection and had to be circumcised later in life, not as an adult. And no it wasn't me, I had a separate infection in one of my balls, but thankfully there was a pill for that. And neither of us live in biblical times, relative to us anyway.
I feel like forcefully mutilating people's genitalia is the wrong solution to poor healthcare provisions.
I agree the correct solution is socialized medicine. Unfortunately, we aren't likely to get that in the US anytime soon. Getting slapped with a 6k medical bill could be the difference between a roof over someone's head or living on the street. It comes off as a potential debt trap, where it is again somehow more expensive to be poor.
I'm not completely convinced it's the right solution, but we have perhaps collectively helped some people by doing this as a society. It seems like a choice between a better of quality of life for most people, but financial hardship for some or lower of quality of life for everyone, but helping some unlucky people who wouldn't be able to the handle potential financial burden. No one plans to be poor, so no one knows if they are going to be one of the people who ends up having to pay later in life. I would like to see more numbers honestly, to really be able to weigh the costs and benefits. edit: typos
This is all nonsense post hoc justification. Circumcision in the US isn't for disease prevention, it's because a bunch of religious freaks a century ago thought it'd stop masturbation.
Disease prevention is the only thing circumcision actually does, and how beneficial that is is debatable, so it's really the only thing worth discussing in relation to the topic.
The fact that the guy who was pushing for circumcision thought it would stop masturbation really has nothing to do with what the benefits potentially were/are. I don't see why the reason someone did something would matter in respect to whether or not the thing was/is beneficial.
I don't really consider myself pro-circumcision, but it seemed like to me whether or not circumcision is worth doing would solely come down to how many people benefited in reduced medical costs versus the cost in quality of life caused by mass circumcision. If not many people, who couldn't afford treatment, actually had reduced medical bills then circumcision isn't worth doing.
I had thoughts on this topic, but not really strong opinions. I didn't realize this was such a hot button issue for people. I thought it was a niche, weird thing we could talk about.
If circumcision wasn't a thing, and somebody proposed cutting bits off baby dicks to maybe possibly save them from some obscure disease nobody ever heard of, everyone would rightly call them a creep. But since it's a tradition, people like you will come up with all kinds of dumbass justifications to continue it.
I mean, that's probably true of anything people have never heard of, but regardless, I couldn't care less about tradition. I legit thought it would be an interesting topic of discussion. I'm not interested in defending circumcision. Is there someone who does I should know about? Is this like a right-wing talking point?
If you're not interested in defending circumcision, why have you been doing it all day?
I explained my thoughts on the topic. I made attempts to clarify what I was saying, so people understood. I wanted to know what other people thought, so I replied to other people's comments in order to get their thoughts about it. I wouldn't call that defending circumcision. This is the first time I've ever seen people display strong feelings about this topic at all.