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 -
Yes- that's absolutely a valid and significant criticism of the program. There shouldn't be exceptions to these policies; both Red and Blue must give up their slaves because "giving up the slaves for the future good of the nation" was the stated goal of this campaign. And if they're so vital in that area- that both Red and Blue agree on the assertion they should be there (and clearly, they do, hence their current immunity)- maybe pass some legislation that legitimizes their presence. They have the House, but that doesn't stop Blue from introducing bills. Why don't they? Well...
And then we could even talk about the more boring logistical stuff, like "well, they aren't really driving up the housing prices as much out in the middle of nowhere", "it wouldn't have as much of an impact per capita in the immediate vicinity", "perhaps food prices were more important than the stated goal", or perhaps most importantly (and likely more fitting for the Trump admin), "isn't going to remind the sizeable minority of city-dwellers that did vote for this that showing up to vote is not pointless".
But that don't bleed, so it don't lead. And I'm unconvinced anything that sophisticated is on the forefront of the average protestor's mind, either; I believe being angry they can't have it their way and the resulting hysteria that they're feeding the neighborhood indentured servant to the functional equivalent of a wood chipper is the dominating impulse there.
And when the better options- say, options 1 through 81- rely on an educated and measured populace, I find it kind of hard to blame the Feds for choosing the 82nd.
More options
Context Copy link