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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 26, 2026

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How do we feel about repeat drunk drivers who get killed in car wrecks that were someone else's fault?

Pretty strongly. We should try and do something about it on both sides. Warn your friends not to drink and drive. But also, create institutions and road safety infrastructure that reduce the probability of drunk people at the wheel getting in accidents.

Okay, presume we've done that already, but some people still get in accidents and die. How do you feel about the repeat drunk driver who dies in a car wreck that wasn't their fault (or at least mostly not their fault)?

If we've done that already, I think it's sad but inevitable. If we haven't done it, and there is, say, an unsigned cliff edge, I think it's worth kicking up a fuss and lobbying for someone to put up a sign.

In the case of ICE, it seems apparent that we haven't done this work. It is not currently minimising risk nearly as well as it could.

Edit: I'm not sure I entirely understand the stipulation that the wreck wasn't their fault, can you elaborate?

In the case of ICE, it seems apparent that we haven't done this work. It is not currently minimising risk nearly as well as it could.

Right, and the absolutely lowest hanging fruit is the cooperation of local authorities and law enforcement. In fact, this alone would likely be enough to satisfy your concerns, since the majority of controversial ICE incidents are occurring in jurisdictions that are not cooperating. Not only are they not cooperating, but local authorities have been encouraging and allegedly even coordinating the chaos. Perhaps ICE still need better training, but that is a longer-term project that is likely to only produce marginal improvements to performance, and it does not necessarily mean they should stop what they're doing. (I suspect higher quality recruits would be better than more training, but that presents other challenges. I suspect the left would heap shame upon any highly competent people who decided to join ICE, because they don't want immigration enforcement to be done better).

Our willingness to tolerate mistakes in law enforcement is proportional to the extent of the criminal problem they are responding to. Personally, I am fine with relaxing standards to address the illegal immigration problem. The "Biden wave" was enormous, and it came after decades of lax enforcement. Making a dent in that problem means acting swiftly, and unfortunately that comes with trade-offs. Up to a point, a per capita increase in mistaken detentions, deportations, or deaths is an acceptable outcome, albeit one that is not welcome. The blame here must land squarely on the people who created the mess in the first place.

Of course, if you don't think illegal immigration is a big problem, or perhaps not a problem at all, then any enforcement is a net negative and no increase in mistakes is acceptable. That is an entirely consistent position.