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 -
The idea presumably would be that if you can degrade the IRGC's capabilities, since they act as kind of the internal suppression force (being a sizeable army/navy in their own right), the regime won't be able to maintain control over a populace in revolt. At least, that's my take on it.
Another take is that it's a lot easier to cause harm to a sophisticated nation like Iran than to a... less industrialized/urbanized place like Yemen. It's a lot easier to destroy (from the air/sea), say, the US Navy's nuclear shipyard in Newport News than it is to clear out a bunch of people in Appalachia with missiles being smuggled to them.
How would this work when IRGC (presumably) consists largely of true believers and their suppression capabilities are of the "we'll shoot you on the street", and not the "we'll use a highly centralized apparatus to eliminate key dissidents"? That is, when killing a bunch of leaders doesn't actually degrade on the street capabilities of the organization (unlike with the nuclear program or traditional state leadership).
IMO a lot of people question the IRGC is filled with true believers today. It’s been too easy for Israel to take out Iran leadership which implies there are a lot of snitches in the Iranian ranks.
And then you look at their former Presidents pinned tweet Ahmadinejad
He frequently says things that aren’t Iran Supremacy now. There is at least some belief that the Iran regime is hollow now. Sometimes people just keep getting up in the morning and doing their orders until the system changes.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link