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Culture War Roundup for the week of August 11, 2025

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The commenters below aren't wrong, but they are applying very different standards to those for the pro-gun arguments.

And there go the goalposts. First the objection was that the comment was downvoted for "merely making an argument". Then, when it's pointed out the comment actually was doing something other than that, it's a complaint about different standards.

You're not the moderator of internet points. And the moderators here, so far as I know, don't moderate internet points. Further, they do moderate responses, so when someone posts some shit implying me and anyone who shares my views is as out-of-touch as Principal Skinner from the Simpsons, I can't just respond with "fuck off, you supercilious asshole" because that will get me modded; internet points are all I got.

when someone posts some shit implying me and anyone who shares my views is as out-of-touch as Principal Skinner from the Simpsons

The 'children' in this case are all the other countries in the First World. The point is that American disputes tend to act as if the rest of the world doesn't exist, hence cject's OP implying that nobody anywhere has any trust in their fellow citizens except in certain parts of the US and in the Third World, which I find frankly ridiculous.

And this is in fact my point. People, not just you but in general, immediately leap from 'I don't like this opinion' to forming the worst possible interpretation of the post and then downvote. Meanwhile they apply much more generous standards to people who agree with them. This is Confirmation Bias 101, everyone knows humans do this. These are such sensitive issues and the resultant standards are so strict that, in practice, (and, yes, in my opinion since as you point out I am not Tzar of internet points) there is no meaningful gap between "a complaint about different standards" and "downvoted for merely making an argument".

People, not just you but in general, immediately leap from 'I don't like this opinion' to forming the worst possible interpretation of the post and then downvote.

It wasn't you who posted it, unless you're a corvid as well as a corvos. But the offending bit is:

Are red Americans irrationally attached to their weapons, attaching civilisation-preserving significance to them that they don't merit, or are the children wrong?

The straightforward interpretation is that either you accept the insulting characterization in the first part, or you're completely out of touch (note the URL). This absolutely deserves a downvote.