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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 30, 2026

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Good morning, my fellow patriarchs, my AIPAC fellows, my Thielite dudebros and gainsmaxxing vrilchads. We gather here in memory of the dearly departed: of the progressives no longer in our midst. Of those who unironically use low human capital as an insult. They who have flounced (and who may yet remain amogus with their alts) with long, boring wordcel essays on how we're all racists, or not participating in their personal armies against Trump, or what have you. Sometimes they even delete their posts, leaving only the scathing retorts to their shaming screeds.

But why do I bring the subject up, you ask?

The reason why I bring the unpleasant topic is because it's become a distinct genre of post on the Motte. Since I am a pattern-noticer of much skill, I thought it useful to put in the effort to make a F.E.C (Frequently Expressed Crashouts) as future reference, and to hopefully save time and effort in the future to what is otherwise a pretty repetitive subject. Feel free to add onto this list, if you feel I've missed anything. I admit that I am making rote argument and there may be gaps of which clever people can argue around it.

A) I'm not comfortable with witches/HBDers/misogynists/actual racists in the Motte. That's why I'm leaving!

First of all, so long, farewell!

Secondly, why are you even here? It's not like there's a shortage of places which moderate against such people. The whole point of the Motte is to talk to weirdos and freaks such as myself with as much politeness and decorum as can be managed. If the subject matter makes you uncomfortable, tough titties. You're an adult. You can decline to participate in conversations you have no interest in. Or you can make an argument that stands on its own merits. If you can remember how to make one!

B) The moderators are terrible at their jobs! They won't ban [X] or [Y]. Here's my evidence-

@Amadan is the embodiment of the Platonic philosopher-king, and their judgement is infallible, like the pope speaking ex cathedra.

The jannies of the Motte are of a different breed than the soft, nepotistic babies of Reddit. They are veterans of forum warfare. The Navy Seals of the mop force. If you take a look at Amadan's profile and sort by top rated, you will see a long list of people they've dunked. Their rage is truly a sight to behold. The only reason they haven't torn you apart yet with their immense verbal IQ is because the other moderators have to physically restrain them from the keyboard. The fact the moderators aren't handholding every little personal spat and argument is a sign of enlightened restraint, not weakness.

C) I'm just so exhausted by the witches/HBDers/misogynists/actual racists. It's emotionally draining. For my own mental health, I have to step away.

That was always allowed. Why are you telling us this? This isn't your blog.

One of the most insidious things in internet communities is passive-aggression. Oh, if only this space wasn't so toxic, I'd participate more! This is a favorite tactic of flouncers who want to use shame but aren't aggressive enough to argue with individuals or demand change from the mods. Using therapyspeak in any other context other than therapy itself is annoying and manipulative! If you want to leave, just leave. Don't make a melodramatic show about it. No one cares.

D) I'm being oppressed because I'm going against the consensus! You guys are hypocrites!

Is the consensus in the room with us right now?

I'm not going to disagree that there is an element of groupthink to all communities. But if you come to a community with the greatest concentration of witches, contrarians, and satirical trolls per capita and you're getting pushback - maybe you should rethink things. If you feel that your position is fundamentally correct, then the number of people disagreeing with you shouldn't matter to you. So as long as you present the best version of your argument for your position, all the downvotes in the world won't change the content of your post. But if you come into the conversation expecting special treatment for being an iconoclast or going against the grain - tough luck!

Perhaps your words aren't as convincing to others as you thought it was. Get gud. Skill issue.

Funny post, tell Grok thank you for us.

I wasted the good part of an hour writing this up, so to have the authorship attributed to Grok makes me the big sad.

Ugh, I know the feeling.

The Amadan part was the main section giving me strong AI vibes - if I'm wrong, mea culpa! My thanks was not sarcastic, I did enjoy it whatever the provenance.

Ahah, that's fine.

It's kind of sad that I ping people's AI suspicions, when I've always been longwinded and rambly.

I love run-on sentences with tons of parentheticals, asides, etc., and I've found that that makes my writing less likely to get pegged as AI slop. So join the bad grammar gang (or maybe start writing like Cormac McCarthy) and you won't have to worry about it.

That part, and only that part, did seem a bit LLMy.

This doesn’t feel AI generated to me. I liked it.