site banner

Culture War Roundup for the week of February 6, 2023

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.

11
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

This is not a deep dive or an analysis - though I suspect in future this topic will generate many.

Instead it is a placemarker. I see that there is a brouhaha of some sort unfolding at the Oklahoma state capitol today. Right-wing media sources characterize it as an invasion of the capitol building to keep the state legislature from voting on legislation which would outlaw medical gender transition for minors.

Other sources, including Fox News, characterize it as a protest inside the capitol rotunda during the governor's state of the state address, opposing several bills which have been introduced during the legislative session, and which the governor supports.

There is obvious incentive, from the Trumpy/populist right, to draw as many parallels with the January 6th event as possible.

There has previously been discussion at the old stomping ground about whether liberal protester/rioters were prosecuted to the same degree as conservatives.

I will be trying to watch this as best I can (not being in or from Oklahoma), as it seems it may present another datapoint for discussion. It will also be a demonstration of the degree to which the institutional right is willing to push culture war topics, and authorize the exercise of political power over dissenting minorities to force through right-favored results.

That's why the comparison to the George Floyd protests was reasonably successful

Was this actually successful? Democrats I know seem to have no problem treating one as saintly and the other as the worst thing since Hitler

Actually I am going to suggest, to anyone planning on making a Big Book of Successes of the 21st Century, that they leave "the republicans eventually convinced Mitt Romney to stop marching with people fostering racial hatred and looting cities" out altogether. Same goes for "avoid getting asked about black lives matter by letting rioters burn and loot cities until they get bored "