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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 17, 2025

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Some people have gone and fixed stuff on their own, only to be fined and ordered to stop by the very city that hasn't fixed those issues for one reason or another. When you have to fix problems on your own while also hiding your identity, it's sign of a failing society. The problem shouldn't have gotten this big to begin with, the system should've solved the issue when it arrived, and it shouldn't be punishing people for solving the problems it failed to fix to begin with.

if we accepted donations like the one you suggest, there would be an imbalance between neighbourhoods. Richer neighbourhoods would have better amenities and poorer neighbourhoods would remain slideless. But you can pay to install a bench with your name somewhere in who-the-fuck-knows-where. We'll take your money, but you can't tell us what to do with it.

This kind of ideology, the need to value equality above all else, is really upsetting and possibly one of the worst ideas ever to come into the public consciousness as a "virtuous" idea. The implication here is that every slide in all the neighborhoods are broken, and unless they can fix every single slide in every neighborhood and give them all access to slides, nobody should have access to slides. Insert meme about the equity solution to three people of different heights watching a baseball game is to cut off the feet of the 2 taller ones.

I'm left to wonder if they really think that or it's just the excuse given to hide some other reason, such as embarrassment from not being able to fix the issues plaguing the city or laziness or greed (donate money, we'll build a bench for 50% of the donated money and pocket the rest).

I keep thinking that in instances like this it would be very instructive to arbitrarily equalize something that affects the deciding party, give them a taste of equality.

In Birmingham, some judges decided it was unfair that some female-dominated council jobs got paid less, had fewer perks than binmen. The council, now short of cash decided to lower the binmen's salary and perks in part to pay compensation to the women. This caused the binmen to go on strike, no waste to be collected, a strike which continues to this day (though agency workers are collecting waste, and are likely more expensive to boot).

I think the judges in question should have had their salaries reduced to those of the binmen. If this were done, they'd quickly uncover new and interesting legal theories about why different jobs have different pay and perks and how this may indeed be equitable. Probably this is very illegal, judges would surely find that it's against the Rule of Law to reduce the privileges of judges. But I don't think they'd quickly do such things again if it were done and the judicial bitching and whining were ignored, they have the latitude to interpret retarded laws more or less reasonably.

Officials, judges and councillors would not be so high-handed if there were more direct consequences for their actions. I know this does go against separation of powers but they're not really separated, when a government really wants something they can just do it, to hell with the law or anything in the way. Government just needs to be more aligned.