site banner
PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   19583 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 20, 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.

4
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Following up on the last 2 week's worth of cryptofascist accusations, a Maine Senate candidate apparently had a Nazi-linked tattoo. Fun fact compared to the people involved in past weeks: he's running as a Dem. He also had some questionable reddit posts:

“Why don’t black people tip?” He worked as a bartender at Tune Inn on Capitol Hill, where he was a guest bartender last month.

“I work as a bartender and it always amazes me how solid this stereotype is,” he wrote. “Every now and again a black patron will leave a 15-20% tip, but usually it [is] between 0-5%. There’s got to be a reason behind it, what is it?”

That same year, he also responded to a post about underwear designed to prevent sexual assault saying people should “take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f—-ked up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?”

Platner also made references to political violence in several posts. In 2018, he said in response to a thread in which someone invoked leaving the U.S. due to Trump-era immigration policies: “Fight until you get tired of fighting with words and then fight with signs, and fists, and guns if need be.”

In other 2018 posts first reported by Politico, Platner said those who “expect to fight fascism without a good semi-automatic rifle … ought to do some reading of history.” He also said “an armed working class is a requirement for economic justice.”

CNN focused on a series of posts from 2021 in which Platner also called himself a communist, said rural Americans are “racist” and “stupid,” called all cops “bastards” and used the word “retard” several times.

I note it's near the bottom of the article where it's mentioned that Platner called himself a communist, as opposed to any article about leaked republican chats which immediately lead with any claims about Nazi/fascist allegations. For example, this next article.

On the Republican side, Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel has withdrawn because 'a text chat that showed him saying the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell.” Ingrassia also described himself in the chat as having “a Nazi streak” at times.'

According to texts viewed by Politico, Ingrassia told those in the chat that “MLK Jr. was the 1960s George Floyd and his ‘holiday’ should be ended and tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.”

Apparently, from three weeks in a row of this kind of thing, there is a rule for text chats: if you're a Republican, anything you say will eventually be leaked (and nothing will happen to the duplicitous snitches who leak private conversations), and spicy comments will sink your career. If you're a Dem, you can talk about wanting to see the deaths of your opponent's children and you'll remain the party candidate for a major statewide office.

Is this post just boo outgroup? Does the comparison to last week's happening (Young Republicans) make this something higher effort than that, and my interpretation of "boo outgroup" is just my bias? Who can tell!

Did you think last week's post was boo outgroup?

Uh yes, it totally was. I'm assuming you mean the magicalkittycat post. I tried to give him/her (for some reason the username makes me think a girl) the benefit of the doubt for a long time, but the last couple of weeks of posts were just looking for chances to bash the outgroup imo.

for some reason the username makes me think a girl

The same problem plagues Beloved Kitten on X/substack even though his writing style (and very frequent statements of being a man) could not make it more obvious.

Calling CatgirlKulak, paging Dr. CatgirlKulak.

I love the people who yell at Kulak "That's a man, baby!" like they've uncovered some cunning plot. That shit must go so hard if you think wrestling is real.

I’ve only pointed it out in response to people insisting otherwise, which happens more often than I’d expect.

I mean, I get it. We all want to believe that there is a cute Rhodesian catgirl out there who is obsessed with guns and violence; it's like the tomboy fantasy on steroids! But real life is not an anime.

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