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 -
Steadily decreasing price in housing would be awesome. And I say that as a homeowner.
I own at least two large depreciating assets called "cars". When I need to buy a new one or have mine fixed, it's better if everything around the asset is less expensive.
No I'm not going to be able to sell it and make a profit. Oh well, I'm getting use out of it.
Did some googling. Cars used to be about 80% of yearly income in the 1960s. And houses were about 2x yearly income.
In 2010 cars are about 40% of yearly income and houses are 5x yearly income.
Imagine if theyd followed the same trend of halving in relative price. You'd only need a year of income to afford a house rather than 5 years.
I paid 500k for my home. Whenever we sell it I'm sure I'll make a nice profit. But Id rather skip the profit and only have paid 100k. Since 100k was our down payment I could have outright bought the house without a loan. Markets are more consistent and I'd have far more comfortable margins for living expenses and worrying about work.
Generally, though, houses last longer than cars, and the land they're on is worth a bundle as well (and that lasts forever).
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link