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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 8, 2025

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The crowd watching it don't care, either. The obvious defense is that they're in fear for their lives, but that isn't it; they follow the killer off the train past the victim bleeding out.

I mean, bystander effect is a well known phenomenon. I don’t see any reason to assume this case is unique in that respect.

The bystander effect is a fake and gay meme.

The only valid presumption to be made by anyone who has watched the murder in question is that every single person there outside of the victim is a subhuman. Maybe they were born that way, maybe they were radicalized by media, or maybe it's a combination of both! But the display speaks for itself.

The only valid presumption to be made by anyone who has watched the murder in question is that every single person there outside of the victim is a subhuman. Maybe they were born that way, maybe they were radicalized by media, or maybe it's a combination of both! But the display speaks for itself.

Does it? This is a pretty poor argument for such a broad generalization- yes, yes, I'm sure you only meant those exact people on that particular train.

This whole thread is full of people who really, really want to trot out their favorite race-war talking points. Some are doing so more or less calmly if unkindly, some are just throwing heat and flashing gang signs and boo lights. This response falls into the latter category. Knock it off.

I feel like the uptick in mental illness and drug-motivated public transport stuff means that frequently the best move is to just not move, since you're not dealing with a rational actor.

Yes, somebody should have assisted the woman in the clip but generally on public transport when confronted with the irrational people just freeze.

They literally abandoned her and followed the killer out of the bus. Two people from the front of the bus later come over to help her, but the ones closest to her just noped out.

The inevitable result of diversity.

This is so low-effort it provides no argument, just a hiss. Other people are making actual arguments, including the one you are hissing in the direction of.

I’m not so sure. I noticed that once the guy had walked off the train, people were moving a lot faster. One guy runs over and says oh my god. I’m reluctant to judge bystanders but it is sad that nobody jumped to her aid immediately. Clearly it took some time to set in exactly what he had done

It sure would have been nice to hear all these sorts of justifications for why things ain't quite so bad as they appear, oh I don't know, 5 years ago...