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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026

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I realize these questions are directed at someone else, but I feel like answering them:

Is it your genuine sincere belief that every single person identified as being "on the left" is an evil liar?

Pretty much yes. It's become an evil ideology. People who adhere to evil ideologies are -- to a greater or lesser extent -- evil themselves.

That it's literally impossible for anyone to be a Democrat or a liberal and sincere and well-intentioned?

I think that's a slightly different question, since, generally speaking, people are very good at self-deception. I think there are plenty of (evil) Leftists who genuinely and sincerely believe in the lies they spread and genuinely and sincerely believe that they are trying to make the world a better place.

If we allowed some of those anti-MAGA posters who wander in to post like you do, would you be okay with that, or are you explicitly advocating we make the Motte a "leftists fuck-off" space?

Personally, I'm fine with Leftists posting here since (at least for now) they cannot engage in their usual tactics of shouting down their opposition; ideologically capturing the moderation team and abusing those powers to silence their adversaries; etc.

How are you defining "left"? By the standards of the Motte, I am on the left. (I'm more likely to vote Democrat than not, I don't like Trump, I think *-isms are bad, etc.) So does this make me "evil" or do I not count because I'm sufficiently gray? (Go ahead and call me evil if you insist, I am genuinely trying to figure out how you are modeling other minds.)

Personally, I'm fine with Leftists posting here since (at least for now) they cannot engage in their usual tactics of shouting down their opposition

Okay, but that necessarily means we don't let you shout them down either.

I think *-isms are bad

Hey now, that moved to the right over the last 10 years. Official left position has long been that -isms are good, as long as they target the right groups.

No, the "official left position" has long been that behavior that would be classified as a *-ism when targeting groups they support isn't a *-ism when targeting groups they don't, allowing them to continue claiming *-isms are bad without having to give up discriminatory behavior against groups they don't favor.

How are you defining "left"?

That's a complicated question, because in many ways Leftism is not a specific set of beliefs but rather a process by which people compete for social status and power by pretending to be morally superior by making use of what Larry Auster called the "liberal script." But here's a rough and ready definition for you: If you could unironically put one of those signs in your front yard which says "In this house we believe," then it is highly likely you are a Leftist. I haven't paid specific attention to your posts so I don't know if I would call you a Leftist.

Okay, but that necessarily means we don't let you shout them down either.

That's fine with me. For the most part, the positions espoused by Leftism can't really stand up to fair scrutiny. In the absence of underhanded tactics, Leftism will lose.

If you could unironically put one of those signs in your front yard which says "In this house we believe," then it is highly likely you are a Leftist. I haven't paid specific attention to your posts so I don't know if I would call you a Leftist.

I definitely would not put one of those signs in my yard. But I know who people who would and do, and while they make me cringe, they are not evil.

But I know who people who would and do, and while they make me cringe, they are not evil.

I would have to disagree with that. At the very best, they are minor minions of evil.

If you look at ideologies in history which, with the benefit of hindsight, are not disputed to be evil, they are no different from people who voluntarily adhered to and promoted those ideologies.

Just my humble opinion.

and while they make me cringe, they are not evil.

that you know. The meme of the left eating their own originated for a reason.