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 -
I wouldn't say this is a steelman, more that it seems to me what they are seeking is domestic gain. Force the Republicans to stop the war, then you make Trump look weak/stupid/vulnerable for the forthcoming elections. You have established that Trump, and by extension the Republican party, and so the candidates running for the Republican party in the midterms, is wrong on policy, unable to complete what he and they started, and should be replaced by the sensible, moderate, capable, diplomacy-not-guns party. Which under the two party system in the USA, would be us! Imagine that!
Iran will always be there. Israel will be there. The mess in the Middle East isn't going away. You can safely put it on the long finger to deal with later. Stop the war, get your victory over Trump and the GOP, and secondarily get the oil flowing again so you reap the benefits of "here you go, citizen, you can now fill up your vehicle at a cheap price and your holiday flights have started again, you can thank us by voting for us".
I know that this is a kind of internal self-monologue, but for this to be true Democrats would have to abandon letting in tens of millions of migrants, trans surgeries for kids, woke social media censorship, and Black Lives Matter racial struggle sessions. As it is this week the New York Times is platforming Hasan Piker for a giggling interview about how murdering Brian Thompson and theft are both good. Maybe, at least, Democrats won’t become the party of regulating AI and we can have a sensible, moderate, capable party that believes in technology and progress.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link