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 -
Yeah, I have no idea what he wants with Greenland. But I'm hesitant to say it's dementia. He clearly has some reason, because this isn't something he just pulled out of thin air yesterday, and though I hate to sound like the fevered mania of the Yellow Peril, maybe it's not totally nuts to wonder if China would try to sneak in influence there somehow.
There's room for a new global superpower. Russia has slipped from that position, and if the USA is also slipping, China wants to take over. Imagine for one moment the huge influence the USA has on the rest of the world - economically, culturally, every other way. The fact that non-Americans are on here talking about it demonstrates such reach. Now imagine China in that role. And I don't think "oh well they're not really Communists, Xi is a different type of guy, they're just as interested in capitalism when it comes to trade and economics as anyone" is going to work as "business as usual, guys, they'll fall in line with Western Liberal Values and we'll all just go along as before" shield. China will want to be a cultural influence as much as anything else, and that includes having the rest of us aligning with Chinese values (and what those are, we can argue about).
More options
Context Copy link