site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   33064 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026

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.

5
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Hamtrack style takeover

I'm not sure I follow- what is this referencing?

White liberals at the roost want to destroy their own societies because they make the category error that impoverishing white institutions only harms the uneducated white hicks.

Well, that and- because they're relatively rich (ironically, due to good institutions)- they're insulated from the consequences of destroying the institutions. Besides, they'll still be on top afterwards due to their Allyship(tm) that was definitely earned and not just appropriated.

Hamtrack style takeover

what is this referencing?

Hamtramck, Michigan, has been in the news a lot for having been taken over by Muslims. One article of many:

A Detroit-area community has banned LGBTQ+ flags from publicly owned flagpoles after a tense hourslong meeting that raised questions about discrimination, religion and the city’s reputation for welcoming newcomers.

Some members of the all-Muslim council said the pride flag clashes with the beliefs of some members of their faith. Businesses and residents aren’t prohibited from displaying a pride flag on their own property.

Hamtramck, population 27,000, is an enclave surrounded by Detroit. More than 40% of residents were born in other countries [and 70 percent speak a language other than English at home], according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and a significant share are of Yemeni or Bangladeshi descent.

The council voted unanimously to display only five flags, including the American flag, the Michigan flag and one that represents the native countries of immigrant residents.

Its only residents of third world shitholes who insist on flying their flag as a mark of conquest on territories they conquer. No fucking Taiwanese or Korean or Japanese flag gets flown in Orange County, its only these muslim countries. The obvious hostile conquering attitude on display is a celebration that should be interpreted as the threat it is, yet the invasion is allowed to continue unmolested. The blind love of multiculturalism will end with Zimbabwe style disenfranchisement of whites followed by annihilation of anything of value as the scavengers pick off anything that made the communities viable to begin with.

Its only residents of third world shitholes who insist on flying their flag as a mark of conquest on territories they conquer.

Oh no, lots of First Worlders do this too; that's why they treat people removing or burning their "progress" flag as a war crime.

Vae victus, git gud if you wanna play the game. Third world shithole conquering of first world gibs is done only by exploiting the naive goodwill of first world idiots, not by being competent at anything except being dark and useless. It is true that the game is really fucking stupid and self defeating but I can hate the player as well as the game both.

EDIT I now realize the above comment was not a "waaa first worlders did meanie bad things to poor third world" but the new faction in the first world emerging to fight the same game of flag planting as conquest. In which case, again, git gud. They allied with the browns and got merked, perhaps they should re-evaluate their situationship with their pets.

This. Travel through Germany and from the flags you'd think you were in Turkey or Albania. From the music you hear, no idea I don't actually know but "vaguely islamic" fits the bill. The spoken languages, ditto.

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