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.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Conservatives mostly don't believe America is a Godless Empire and don't read stories about the CIA messing with opium those are liberal coded. Most of those conservative soldiers joined to fight terrorists or because the military was seen as a respectable career. Many have been disillusioned but that was after they signed the dotted line.
My point was that conservatives eagerly give up all personal autonomy in the service of their nation (plus benefits), and given that they are gullible, you hardly need sophisticated argumentation to inform them the truth: America is a passing vanity that all will forget, their true citizenship is in God’s Kingdom, they are currently part of the greatest war in history, and they must suffer alongside their Commander Christ, equipping holy armor every morning and brandishing a spiritual weapon. They are compelled to believe this if they claim to follow Christ as all this is found in the Epistles.
Also, I just don’t understand the autonomy meme. In what world is autonomy a thing? We all have to spend our daylight working for someone: even being a business owner simply means you are more indebted to others. If anyone wants more autonomy, ie more free time and freedom from pressing physical and social needs, then they should earnestly pursue a utopian social ecosystem in which everyone works less and can expediently satisfy their basic needs. There is no other substantive meaning behind “autonomy”.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link