Hello I’m Prosaic Malfeasance, and this is my Blog.

I have quite a few projects I’m working on, but one thing I find joy in is writing about the interesting experiences I have had in my life. I really hope that the lessons I have learned can help others. I’m a trans woman who has had lived experience with the subject matter, and I fundamentally think we learn the wrong lessons from living with imperfect knowledge of ourselves and others. 

One passion that is adjacent to just living my daily life is my interest in realpolitik and diplomacy. I’m in no way a scholar; I just read often. I believe that just like the macro of politics, the micro of interpersonal relationships should be scrupulously handled with care. The practical goal that is met with realism will bring a desired outcome. 

Political Realism and Interpersonal Life

The idle fantasies of people preaching about ideals or truth while twiddling their thumbs will bring disaster. This is regardless of political view. If you accept reality, what you will find is that “nature is red in tooth and claw.” Alfred Lord Tennyson

Politics shouldn’t be compared to the ideal and ethereal; it should be compared to the soil under our feet. Our collective knowledge of human history, which includes strife and infanticide, Generational harm and subjugation. 

People naively walk out into the world with a progressive myth that the world does get better and they are half right. Politicking brings us out of the Savannah and the Serengeti. 

It’s the tools we have, not the tools we wish for. I think a lot of people, especially trans women and men, wish for an ideal world. I can say I do too; that doesn’t change what will bring a good outcome.

Personally, I find a large part of the self-destruction of other trans people to be semantic-based. I believe that the correct way to handle yourself is to not be so self-sabotaging on such a premise. 

Something I hope for

Is to be able to teach and explore diplomacy through personal anecdotes and learned skills. I have found this to be a quite addictive way of looking at the world. It is more part of my identity than the whole transgender-woman thing. The capacity to have diplomatic eyes will allow a person to come to terms with not just how another person looks at the world but, simultaneously, what to do with that knowledge.

The closest comparison to a career in diplomacy is philosophy. The skills that are required are very intangible, and the measurement of success is also very intangible. With philosophy, you are not reaching for just the truth but are preaching it. In the role of a career diplomat, the goal is to understand what Others are preaching. Then reach into your back pocket of skills and memories to see if there is something you can bargain with.

This isn’t the job of the preacher or a spy. There is no search for truth in the sense of having a minority being gendered correctly. There is nothing to be found in being a spy, where everything is quite hidden. Spies and diplomats are the only two types of people who can talk to an enemy. People often conflate the two, but this is far from the truth. As a matter of fact, being a career diplomat is quite mundane and quasi-hostile at times.

I hear the peanut gallery screaming, “Prosaic Malfeasance. I have to deal with people I can’t stand every day. You should see my wife!” What I have to say is that diplomacy isn’t just for the macro; it is for the micro too.