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netstack

The horse embodies the wings a person feels inside.

10 followers   follows 3 users  
joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC 

				
User ID: 647


				
				
				

			

		

	














	


		


			



	

		

			

			

				

					

						

							
						

						

							
							

								
netstack


								

								

								
								
									
								
								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
The horse embodies the wings a person feels inside.

				
				
				

				

					10 followers  

					follows 3 users  

					joined 2022 September 05 17:27:40 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 647


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Krystal ball




Genuinely surprised that we never got a Metal Gear character with this name.


Anyway, I’m not really seeing the problem here. I don’t like an ethnostate. I think that claiming Israel is one but Palestine wouldn’t be is misguided at best. Therefore, I’m sympathetic to people who rank the current situation over the palette-swapped version. That seems to be Smith’s position.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Sorry. No sarcasm was intended.


My understanding is that the warming itself is easy to measure. We have thermometer records going back to the 1800s and reasonable proxies going back further. This would make 3) well-attested.


I do not believe that 3) is controversial. I have seen people argue that 3) was correlated with, not caused by, 2). I have also seen people accept 3) and then propose 4) it won’t be that bad. Those are both consistent positions, and I respect the people who are trying to seriously find evidence for them.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
But 3) is the most well-attested part! It’s the whole reason Al Gore could get up on stage and point to those sawtooth curves. I don’t think I’ve seen an argument that the planet is actually cooler than it was before the Industrial Revolution.


If 3) is hard, the correct response is not to throw up our hands and let God decide. And there are some skeptics out there trying to make their own models say, yeah, it’s alarming but okay. Here’s a feedback mechanism, here’s a reversal, we’ll be alright if we bring back bunker fuels. Stuff like that.


But the mainstream version of climate skepticism is to accuse the people working on 3) of being paid degrowth shills who hate America. You can see it all over this thread. The motte is that spending money on climate research is wasteful and rewards the wreckers. The bailey is that it’s all fake and gay by default. Is that truth-seeking behavior?


I think your food analogy is wrongheaded. What you’ve seen are the fads, the contrarians, the countersignals. The people selling something by contrasting it with a mainstream. Climate science is the mainstream! That’s why so much time and effort has to go into discrediting it! The dynamics are completely different than the market for fad diets.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Thank you.


It’s amazing how many things are explained by sampling bias.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Raising a generation of subs.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Evangelion is about a cast of weirdos undergoing their own personal mental breakdowns. You know, on account of the impending apocalypse. Uncomfortable sexual tension is one of many, many ways it turns up the pressure. That has artistic value!


Doubly so if you’re young enough that all the show’s uncritical gooner bait doesn’t trigger the same “ick.” But that window is limited, and at some point it gets awfully hard to recommend rather than just defend. So it goes.




I agree with some of the others that you’re seeing a wider distribution. Actually, I suspect Goblin Slayer came at a bit of a low point; the fantasy LN market was pretty saturated by 2016. Whenever you get a glut of genre-chasers, some of them compete on edginess.


Point is, lots of modern anime avoids the worst excesses.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There’s a difference between informed and uninformed criticism, though.


Exhibit A: this thread.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 20, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
“It’s over. C.S. Lewis has already depicted you as the wojak, and me as the Chad.”


Alternately: Twitter delenda est. Seriously, I think this whole “storm” can be explained by an extremely online generation which is starting to actually raise kids. They’re getting parenting advice filtered through the attention economy. This was probably true for, like, parenting magazines. But anons randos strangers on Twitter have different incentives than magazine contributors.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If the baton would be taken as evidence of ill intent, maybe the bat would signal that you’re planning a comedy sketch?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Wallet, phone, keys.


The latter used to have a small folding leatherman but I always forget to put it back on after flying. There’s enough stuff on there as it is. The tiny scissors saw much more use than the blade. The tiny screwdriver probably saw less, but was indispensable when it did come up. One time I actually needed the file to take a plastic nub off of something.


If I’m going somewhere remotely outdoors, I will usually bring a 2.5” folding knife.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Interesting Times. One of the few main-series Discworlds I haven’t read! The humor was hit or miss at first, but it didn’t take long before a mugger-in-training gag caught me by surprise. Now I’m in for the ride.


Dauntless sounds…painful. Despite being a huge mil sci fi nerd, I’ve never had much tolerance for that subgenre. Columbus Day was underwhelming. What are some other standouts?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
You should vote.


The cost is not actually that high: a few hours a year, right?


The benefit is, of course, abysmal. It gets better for local elections. I suspect you could push it further by spending more time and effort signaling your single-issue status. But on its own your vote is near worthless.


More importantly, it is a good categorical imperative. You should vote because people similar to you should vote.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
If there is a Moral Truth out there, is it well served by slander?


I was working on an elaborate hypothetical about militant vegans, but I’m not sure it was actually helpful. I guess I’m envisioning a “hate the sin, love the sinner” position where someone’s crimes don’t forfeit all their rights, or your own obligation to do good. I don’t think that’s relativism.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Weird hill to die on, but ok.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for July 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Okay, I think that beats my example.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for July 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
When you start talking evopsych, you really have a way of making it sound like a sneer. I also think it’s foolish to model 1000+ member associations like they’re under Dunbar’s number.


Anyway, I’ll submit SCA, which I think is very female-heavy and more of an organization than any fandom.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I’m not thinking of an economic pull (I.e. needing two jobs to feed your kids). I was thinking about the push (more useful work to be done outside the home). Going off what I read before, the mass manufacturing of household goods, especially textiles, moved women from production into consumption (unless they went into the mills themselves). The same should be true for the midcentury wave of more advanced factories and more consumer goods.


@VoxelVexillologist


There was a definitely cultural shift, too, but i think it depended on the economics. In the Civil War it didn’t matter how many men were conscripted; women could not effectively fill roles in the ironworks or trainyards. Power tools and heavy machinery changed that. The growth of low-training jobs changed that.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I don’t care how liberal you aren’t. I’m not asking you to agree with them. I am objecting to the insistence that they “wished their child had been murdered,” which posits a state of mind that was (as far as I know) completely absent.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There’s an old joke about the optimal user interface: a single button labeled “do what I want.”


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Conflating Great Migration and mass migration makes me think you’re reasoning backwards.


As I understand it, immigration slumped during the Depression and didn’t recover until Reagan. Wiki shows a different trend but still suggests the bulk of migration happened before WWI. So I find it unlikely that immigration could explain the effects you want.


Actually, when are those effects, exactly? Because I think it makes a huge difference if you point at the 60s vs 70s vs 80s. Depending on the specific point, I can think of a dozen technologies which have changed how people handle their kids, even without talking about demographics or gang violence.




It’s 10 PM. Do you know where your children are?




I think you’re skimming over economics in your rush to blame black people. Automation and the World Wars pulled more and more women out of the home. That alone should have had a bigger effect on childcare.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
How is there no difference?


Moving an actual child from existence to nonexistence requires murder. Moving a potential child from nonexistence to nonexistence does not.


I understand that you disagree with the couple’s assessment of “actual” versus “potential.” You can call their actions murder, but you would be wrong to say they wanted murder, because their wants used their assessment.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Scott was living two blocks from downtown Hiroshima and asking why everybody got so nervous about nuclear weapons.


On the other hand, like 5 comments upthread, @ArjinFerman is telling us that the AIDS crisis was oversold. (I really wanted to gloss his complaint as “fake and gay,” but figured that could be mistaken for mockery). There’s clearly some sense where he’s correct, and HIV will see use as a political lever long after everyone who knew a victim is also dead.


I’m not sure how to square this other than a rather uncomfortable model: the amount of suffering around us at all times is literally inconceivable, but your brain works really hard to filter it out. Turn off too many of those filters and you end up going mad and/or effective altruist.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
…unlike the first, which had such a great time over the next 2500 years?


And no, I think I’ve got a decent understanding of the Roman collapse. It really doesn’t line up with a narrative of (social) decadence and tolerance. Centuries of geopolitical pressure and food distribution far outweighed any trends in buttsex.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Agreed.


Well, the auction part sounds pretty psychotic. On the other hand, that’s kind of inherent to contract law. Even marriage contracts generate some insane implications.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Short answer: yes, of course. The slippery slope argument says that violating one principle will cause further violations of that principle. In this case, you have two separate principles which can be violated independently.


Arguing that violating one will make more opportunities to violate the second is a utilitarian approach, not a slippery slope.


Longer answer: I think the NYPost is a trash outlet and I don’t want to slog through their coverage, so I’m going to assume it’s perfectly fair and accurate. Please forgive me if I get the details wrong.




the adoptive men wish their now two year old child had been murdered




No, they don’t. They wish she didn’t exist, which sometimes but not always implies murder. In your model, fulfilling that wish would have required murdering the fetus. In their model, it did not. I can’t stress this distinction enough.


Thank you for not fedposting, by the way.




various slippery slopes have been validated over, and over, and over again




Could you elaborate? From where I’m standing, this incident wasn’t caused by leniency higher up the slope. If Canada executed all its gays instead of letting them adopt surrogates, it wouldn’t have mattered. Straight couples are perfectly capable of violating a second, separate principle about the moral value of the fetus. The same judge would (probably) make the same decision. Conversely, you could win that battle regardless of your principle on homosexuality. The two are not on the same slope.




have your feelings on the matter changed?




I guess so? I gained political awareness in the pre-Obergefell era, and viewed the situation with a typical teenage self-assurance. The outgroup were obviously picking on gays because they felt threatened, maybe closeted, right? But they were already losing out, and it was firmly not my problem.


Now I’ve seen the culture wars metastasize, polarize, accelerate the discovery of new and exciting ingroups and outgroups. I think that attacking homosexuality has gotten more politically useful even as Americans have, as individuals, gotten more tolerant. So I suppose I’ve become more inclined to argue (and vote) for gay rights.