site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   27262 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 28, 2025

This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.

Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.

We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:

  • Shaming.

  • Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.

  • Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.

  • Recruiting for a cause.

  • Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.

In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:

  • Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.

  • Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.

  • Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.

  • Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.

On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.

6
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Why is nobody talking about the trade deal that EU stroke with Trump

* BASELINE TARIFF RATE: Almost all EU goods entering the U.S. will be subject to a 15% baseline tariff. The 15% tariff is not added to any existing rates.

  • CARS: Cars and car parts will be subject to the 15% tariff, compared to the 27.5% they face now. The European Commission said it would eliminate remaining low-level duties on industrial goods from the United States, although EU officials said for cars they would cut the import duty from 10% to the previous U.S. level of 2.5%.

  • PHARMACEUTICALS AND SEMICONDUCTORS: The White House says EU pharmaceuticals and microchips will be subject to 15% tariffs. The European Commission says this will only be the case after the United States concludes Section 232 investigations in the coming weeks and sets new global tariff rates for the two sectors. For the EU, the maximum rate would be 15%. For now, there are only subject to low or zero pre-existing duties.

  • OTHER SECTORS: The United States is also carrying out Section 232 investigations on grounds of national security into timber, trucks, critical minerals, commercial aircraft, polysilicon and drones. EU officials say that for all of these, a maximum 15% tariff would apply for EU goods.

  • METALS: Tariffs on European steel, aluminium will stay at 50%, with the same tariff also applying from August 1 to copper. However, the EU and the U.S. have agreed that they will be replaced by a quota system, whose details still has to be negotiated, EU officials say.

European exports within the agreed quota would face the most-favoured nation tariff rate agreed under WTO rules, which are low and in some cases zero depending on the grade. Exports outside of the quota would be subject to 50% tariffs.

  • ZERO-FOR-ZERO tariffs: According to EU officials, the U.S. and EU will have zero-for-zero tariffs on:

  • all aircraft and aircraft parts,

  • certain chemicals,

  • certain generic drugs,

  • semiconductor-making equipment,

  • some agricultural products but with the exclusion of all sensitive products like beef, rice, ethanol, sugar or poultry.

  • Natural resources and critical raw materials. More products could be added.

  • WINE AND SPIRITS: A zero tariff regime for wine and spirits - a point of friction on both sides of the Atlantic - is still under discussion. EU officials said talks were more advanced for spirits.

  • AGRICULTURE, FISH: The EU will open new market access for U.S. Alaska pollock, Pacific salmon and shrimp, subject to quotas. It will also offer improved access for U.S. soya bean oil, planting seeds, grains and nuts as well as processed food such as tomato ketchup, cocoa and biscuits, again subject to quotas.

  • STRATEGIC PURCHASES: The EU pledged to make $750 billion in strategic purchases, covering oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and nuclear technology during U.S. President Donald Trump's term in office.

This will come as a mix of spot purchases for oil, long-term contracts for LNG and government procurement for nuclear technology. The amount has been estimated on the basis of Europe's planned phase out of energy purchases from Russia. The EU will also purchase 40 billion euros ($46 billion) of U.S. AI chips would be on top of the $750 billion.

  • European companies are to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over the course of Trump's second term. Japan's package will consist of equity, loans and guarantees from state-run agencies of up to $550 billion to be invested at Trump's discretion, Tokyo says. EU officials, in contrast, said Europe's $600 billion investment pledge is based on the combined investment intentions expressed by European companies.

  • DEFENCE PROCUREMENT: EU member states will purchase U.S. military equipment. The deal does not specify an amount.

  • OTHER ITEMS: The EU says it will cooperate with the U.S. on automotive and food safety standards, while retaining its current rules. Cooperation could take the form of streamlining certification for U.S. pork or dairy products. The two sides will also cooperate on investment screening and export controls as well as addressing 'non-market' policies, such as China's subsidised production.

TLDR is that EU makes Trump a blowjob and in return they get the privilege to swallow. The deal is one sided and quite good for the US. The other thing is that if EU is hoping to weather the storm and then it will be off - yeah right. There won't be a person as stupid as Carter in the white house anytime soon. No matter if 2028 is dem or rep year - this deal will be requested to be honored.

Trump's idea to sell access to US market is not without merits even if it is implementation is botched as hell. And no one is brave enough to even propose retaliation.

The deal is one sided and quite good for the US.

One sided yes, good for the U.S. no. Fundamentally a 15% tariff is still just making the economy less efficient for no benefit besides some tax revenue that could to collected in less distortionary ways. Plus, unlike keeping tariffs that already exist which at least reduces disruption at the cost of long-term growth, new tariffs actively cause disruption. Pretty much the only possible advantage would be slightly increasing resiliency to trade disruptions, and even that isn't that likely because the inherent instability of tariffs imposed by the President without Congress means investors are unlikely to make long-term investments based on avoiding the 15%. Imposing tariffs without retaliatory tariffs in return is like if the U.S. bombed some EU factories and got them to agree not to bomb the U.S. in return, it's one-sided but that doesn't mean it's beneficial.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats