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ArjinFerman

Tinfoil Gigachad

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joined 2022 September 05 16:31:45 UTC
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ArjinFerman


								
								
									
								
								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
Tinfoil Gigachad

				
				
				

				

					2 followers  

					follows 4 users  

					joined 2022 September 05 16:31:45 UTC
				


				
					

					
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
How is this supposed to make sense? He said that that the outraged-sampled videos of ICE aren't actually that outrageous compared to the non-outraged-sampled videos of other police forces. In other words, they are not the same.


Also even if they were the same, it tells you nothing about the prevalence. You have no idea how many actually outrageous videos there are available for either group.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


The Vatican military/Swiss Guard is a tiny paramilitary force.




Again, These were your words:






The Papal Enclave is soft.


I simply don't think it's a useful metric for gauging or predicting the life cycle of a civilization. The Pope has bodyguards with rifles, who are willing to use violence so he can keep his hands clean.






Who were you referring to, if not the Swiss Guard? You can modify the argument, if you want. I said myself that I actually think the Catholic Church is in decline, but the actual argument you actually made was not a good one.




It doesn't need to, because of good relations with their neighbors, and because it's in the middle of Italy.




I will again point out that the good relations with it's neighbor are a result of it's strength, not the source of it's peace. Even today, if Italy tried to antagonize the Vatican, it would find itself in massive shitstorm.




Notice that you have changed the standard of what constitutes a group from nation states to an entire religion and all its adherents.




I mean, you're the one that gave the Vatican as an example. It's not a nation-state, so the rules are different. Why should I exclude people who consider themselves to be mebmbers of the group, and are willing die for it, as not part of the group?




That is an incomplete definition at best.




Alright, but it's a start? Particularly when you started off by denying that an inability to recruit from within the group has anything to do with softness?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


It's better to think about concepts like democracy and capitalism as a form of technology in and of themselves, they're an idealogical technology that people had to bring about and work to optimize. But like the car beat the horse, the free market beat the mercantalists and central economic control, and democracy beat the dictators.




I have no idea how this addresses my response.




We're on the cutting edge of creating a machine god




Welp, I guess that leaves us at "agree to disagree". You're not. You're not anywhere close. We might get some fairly radical changes out of it, like a total surveillance state, but nothing like "machine god" from rationalist fanfics.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


There’s a difference between unable and unwilling.




"I totally could do it, if I wanted to, it's just that I don't want" sounds like pretty big cope, particularly when there's a horde of barbarians at your gates, getting ready to sack your ass.




Even if Roman men were champing at the bit, if the state couldn’t pay them enough to support a family, that’s a sign of state capacity, not cultural softness




I have to confess that unlike apparently all the dissident right types, I'm not that much into ancient Rome, so you'll have to forgive my ignorance. Was there some sort of mass famine leading up to the collapse? Otherwise what do you mean by "couldn't pay them enough to support a family"?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


How is that a bad example? The Papal Enclave exists as a nominally independent state. It preaches Christian charity and forbearance, and I believe it's probably at least 500 years since a Pope had to crack skulls with a mace (and that too was probably another pope).




Oh, come on, you were clearly using the present tense, and referring to the Vatican's armed bodyguards, not the past tense and referring to when they used to have an actual military. If we stick to your actual original argument, you could not pick a worse example precisely because this is an instance of a group recruiting it's security forces from within itself, the very opposite of what I brought up as "ambient cultural softness".


I actually agree that you can make an argument that the Catholic Church is in decline, and you can put forward many arguments for that, but this was is terrible.




There is no major nation that can get away with that kind of nominal pacifism, barring those that have military alliances with stronger powers, which is just another form of outsourcing all the nasty brutish threat of violence.




You're right that this is a special circumstance, but you're reversing the effect for the cause. The military alliance with stronger powers resulted from the Church's strength - the current allies had, until very recently, so many Catholics that a refusal to protect the Vatican would result in outright rebellion. Even the Vatican's outright enemies, like the communist block in Europe, had to tread carefully in their relations with the Vatican. Things have changed since then, but that's a very recent development.




Please, by all means share your definition of cultural softness. If I know what you mean, then we can move to productive debate.




Huh??






Ok, hold up. If there is such a thing as ambient cultural softness, that can be applied to entire societies, then surely being unable to recruit your defense from your own people is as close to a definition as we can probably get.






				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I can imagine "ambient cultural softness". I gave two examples above, I can probably come up with more if I had to. A vegan group house that eschews violence and practices non-violent communication is soft.




Ok, then I guess it's an argument over definitions? If so, these are kind of fruitless. You can argue that your definition of ambient cultural softness is useless for the purpose of predicting what will happen to a nation / group, but that does nothing to argue against the definition of people you're disagreeing with.




The Papal Enclave is soft. (...) The Pope has bodyguards with rifles, who are willing to use violence so he can keep his hands clean.




I don't know if you could have picked a worse example. Even in today's secular era, you'd still probably find literal millions of people who'd voluntarily take (and for that matter "give") a bullet for the pope. The Swiss Guard are hardly a central example of soldiers of fortune or rent-a-cops, either.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I do not agree that there is anything usefully described as "ambient cultural softness",




That seems to be the core of the issue, then. You can't have a meaningful debate about a specific thing being caused by "ambient cultural softness", if you think the very concept is incoherent.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Rome's military decline tracked with its institutional decay, loyalty structures, economic capacity to maintain professional armies, and political dysfunction, not with some ambient cultural "softness" that sapped the virtue of Roman men.




Ok, hold up. If there is such a thing as ambient cultural softness, that can be applied to entire societies, then surely being unable to recruit your defense from your own people is as close to a definition as we can probably get.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


And if decadence and "good times" was so bad, then like you point out, why do nations like North Korea continue to suck so much while the US has such untouchable supreme power?




You could ask these sort of questions about Rome, and every other empire, right up until the point of it's collapse. The one about democracy could be, and was, asked in reverse right up until the 20th century.


Unless you're actively saying America is not in decline, and will not collapse if it stays on it's current trajectory, you're not even addressing the issue with these questions.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This is like saying natural selection is irrelevant to the course of evolution.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I think I answered @JeSuisCharlie's question of "is he a trustworthy source?"




I don't think you did originally, and I don't think I did. "Trustworthy" doesn't usually mean "an oracle of truth".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I dont believe any source is trustworthy in the sense of "oracle of truth."




That wasn't the question. Do you think it makes him more likely to put forward an argument in good faith?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


As LBJ put it: “If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you.”




That sounds nice, but I don't have the impression  that the amount of government pickpocketing has went down since the Civil Rights movement.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I heard Germans will call the cops on you, though I haven't confirmed it. However, I literally never seen an unaccompanied child when I was there. The Mediterranean, by  contrast still seems pretty chill, and you get to see kids hanging out on the streets. Even on the eastern side, when I went to visit my family recently, I saw a few unaccompanied young kids dragging a sleigh in the direction of the local hill.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Not accurate: she did have him as an authority figure, because he was the wrestling coach at the high school.




Was she on the wrestling team?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This makes no sense. You can't accuse the anti-trans side of recasting anything, if they never agreed to use that distinction.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


And, like many other things 'everybody' was doing, some of us realised that it wasn't right.




You're moving the goalposts. Obviously the pro-trans side will think the pro-trans side is right, and vice versa. We were talking about whether or not the anti-trans side was recasting the distinction raised by the pro-trans side. If the anti-trans side was the first to set the distinction, than it was the pro-trans side that was doing the recasting. Even if you think their position is the correct / morally right one.




until she has that part of her anatomy altered.




I appreciate the concession, but I'm not willing to grant even this bit.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


The abolition of segregation wasn't 'handing the reins of society over' to the Civil Rights advocates.




The pro-trans side is not asking for the abolition of segregation. They want to keep it, but hop over to the "white" category.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


The re-casting was how they sought to thwart the goal of the pro-trans faction.




It wasn't recasting. Prior to to pro-trans proposition , everybody was using a sex-based distinction. Even the word "gender" was just a euphemism for sex. The anti-trans side just adapted to the pro-trans lingo to try to have a meaningful conversation, and not fight over definitions.




and avoid anyone asking why they are concerned with other people's anatomy.




That makes no sense, no one on the anti-trans side has an issue answering that question. We're a sexually dimorphic species, and the dimorphism manifests itself in both behavior and physical capabilities.




and the biological differences would be as private as any other medical history, HIPAA avant la lettre.




Can't say I noticed the pro-trans side wanting to keep their genitals private.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yes. This is the steelman / nugget of truth in the EHC idea, but in practice "populists can't attract EHC" is a personal complaint at not being wined and dined by the plebs.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Because they're Elite Human Capital, duh. They think they're all that, and populists not seeing their worth is evidence of how incapable they are.


The term was popularized by Walt Bismarck, an Alt-Right guy who, in the wake of the Charlottesville crashout, went to some all-white small town, and later wrote a substack seething about the normies there not being interested in his brand of politics. I think one of our posters even found the article, and was indirectly responsible for it going viral. Later it was picked up by people like Richard Hanania, and Alexander Turok.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					




they lack the intelligence and positive vision for the future necessary to attract "elite human capital".




Elites don’t demand either of those things




You're mixing up terminology here. The elites are people with actual power. "Elite human capital" are a bunch of influencers with status anxiety, a Joffrey Baratheon complex, and a hate boner for populism.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Moreover, there's an opposing force: depending on who's in charge of the government, it can violate federal law to not act, with a bunch of fun questions when those regulations change after the action or inaction happens




The problem with that idea is that by forcing the doctors to provide treatment, politicians will be taking ownership of the entire scandal. Which can be fine if the treatment is actually good for people, and the odd malcontent is just a result of occasional incompetence or weird allergies. If, on the other hand, it's bad, politicians will have tied their own rope.


The idea reminds me of some Reddit post I saw, where transgenders were gloating that their doctor got around some red state ban by using the ICD code for an endocrine disorder, instead of gender dysphoria. Good for them, I guess. I totally can't imagine how this could come back and bite the doctor in the ass.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Yes, they are being forced to. We know this because the only reason the law even came about is became they double backed on their own promises to release the files to begin with.




That's not exactly the own you think it is. It's hard act outraged about Trump only releasing them when he was forced to by his own promise, when the other party was in a position to release them for years, but didn't, and didn't even promise to.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of February 9, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Now I am curious. Denizens of the Motte: How many of you see children between the ages of 8-12 out and about without a parent in your day-to-day life?




Europe is kinda split on the issue. There are countries that are extremely paranoid about it and people will literally call the cops on you, and countries where it's perfectly normal, and roving gangs of schoolkids are a common sight to see. I lived in both kinds.