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 -
I watched all of the live streams as this unfolded.
I’m so confused because none of the violence referenced in your links was at all observable on any of the livestreams.
The only actual violence, that increased past the point of pushing and shoving - fisty cuffs, if you will - was that of Ashleigh Babbit who was shot as she tried to climb through a barricaded door.
It almost seems to have appeared post-hoc. Do you have any video evidence of any of this? It seems near certain that there would have been given how much was filmed.
Total estimated cost at 2.7billion… god someone did well out of this. From what I saw, I would have guessed several hundred thousand - a few million at most.
Yeah I always look through these links for videos, but it seems to be entirely relayed stories or things that people eventually had to plead guilty to in order to get lighter sentences in the zealous over-prosecutions.
And then you get a game of telephone, where NBC news writes "an explosive device" that made a loud noise and apparently caused psychological trauma because some officers anticipated it might have otherwise been a dangerous grenade, in an article where they also mention (at the bottom of the article) the second worst explosive as "lit what appeared to be a firecracker, but it did not explode". And then here it's upgraded to simply "a bomb".
More options
Context Copy link
A lot of it is done in the messier busier crowds where seeing what's going on is difficult. But yes we have videos like this and this.
Interesting, we also have video of a current DOJ official yelling to kill the cops
So yes we do, and if you want more you can just Google for the rest. Videos + police testimony makes for a strong case, cops don't generally lie about being attacked.
Thanks for sending - I hadn’t seen the second video, although I had seen the first - which is what I initially described as fisty cuffs - people fighting to get through the barricades but then the violence disappearing once through.
It’s definitely a dishonest comparison from you to compare the left’s rioting with the right’s, but fair to suggest that it should still nonetheless be disavowed as it definitely crossed a serious line.
How exactly is it dishonest? Assaulting police is a crime, whether you're right or left wing.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
That $2.7billion includes a lot of things like costs spent increasing new security.
I remember seeing photo albums of the damage in the aftermath and it totaled up to like, 4 maybe 5 broken windows. Shared by a leftwinger, FWIW, though I suppose it could have just been laziness or incompetence.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link