site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   15039 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 3, 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.

6
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

White shoe law firms are pressured to abandon legal assistance to the left

One hidden aspect of this is that BigLaw provided a large amount of pro bono legal work to NGOs, so now many NGOs bringing leftist litigation are finding themselves without hours and hours of high-quality free legal work.

The effects have rippled far beyond the firms themselves. Reuters contacted more than 70 civic groups that frequently sue the government on behalf of liberal causes, including immigrant aid, transgender rights, gun control and abortion access.

Of the 33 groups that responded, all but six said they feared Trump’s pressure on law firms could jeopardize future access to legal help. At least a dozen groups reported that law firms had already backed away from providing legal help, though they all declined to name names, fearing they might alienate lawyers they could need in the future.

Bridget Crawford, director of law and policy at Immigration Equality, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ immigrants, said her team often relies on major firms to vet legal arguments, but several recently declined to help with cases challenging Trump. That means it’s growing hard to pursue cases focused on systemic injustices, she said. “We take on strong cases and generally win in the courts, so struggling to bring a suit is a loss for everyone.”

Apparently, the chill has gone so far that the ABA itself had trouble finding help to sue the Trump admin. Some lulz to be had there. Also:

Activist nonprofits have long relied on free representation because they typically lack the resources to mount major lawsuits on their own. Civil rights cases in particular are complex undertakings usually lasting years. Many call for hundreds of hours spent deposing witnesses and performing research, as well as upfront costs of tens of thousands of dollars. Big Law, with its deep ranks of attorneys and paying clients to subsidize their volunteer work, is in a unique position to help.

I wonder how some of those clients paying $1000/hour for legal services feel about the money going to subsidize "activist nonprofits." I have to suspect that's finally playing a role, too.

Is it just me, or has the vibe of "nonprofit" shifted in the last couple years? A decade back, "I work with a nonprofit" was generally seen as a positive contribution, but it seems today there is a lot more cynicism about how those nonprofits compensate their management (sometimes heavily), and whether their mission is even good (no, the world doesn't need even more puppies).

Recently I had a friend lament that there was no counterbalance to corporate lobbyists and I had to remind him that nonprofits existed, that their goals are not axiomatically good and uncontroversial.

My gut feeling is that there is still likely a majority of people immediately translating in their head "nonprofit" as "charity", and who generally think of them as non-partisan, non-political, altruistic, net-positive.

It has definitely shifted among some people, but I can't tell how widespread the attitude shift is. I work in criminal defense, and I find it impossible to take most non-profits seriously, which puts my poker face to the test at times. If someone like me has decided that a solid 95% of NGOs are useless makework facilities at best and seriously detrimental to society at worst, then I suspect many normies are not fans either.

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