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.

Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I'm talking about perfect foresight, something that should be drilled into leos in the police academy. "Don't stand in front of the car, because there's literally nothing you can do if the driver floors it unless you have been a D1 track and field athlete. You might spend your last moments shooting the driver and you might even hit'em, but good luck explaining to Saint Peter why you shot a seventy-year-old lady with mild dementia. Yes, there are situations when spending the last moments of your life shooting at the perp trying to get away is the best course of action, but don't be a fucking dumbass cowboy and put yourself into them."
Ms. Good might have listened to her wife and floored it because her wife told her to in this particular case. In another universe she might've wanted to put the car in park to get out of the car and pressed the wrong pedal. In a third universe she was pulled out of the car when the car was in gear and she was the one holding the brake pedal. In a fourth one she was actually Basma Faheem, a recent convert to radical Islam trying to lure a federal officer into a false state of complacency and run him over.
That's still pefect hindsight. The only reason you're acting like you know what should have been drilled into their heads is because you've seen the video and can analyze all the little things that could have been done to avoid this specific situation. It's not clear if your recommendations would run into other issues during standard police work, so I find it a bit silly to declare with so much certainty how this should be handled.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link