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PaperclipPerfector  15hr ago (text post)   2645 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of April 27, 2026

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after enough of these political ceremonies, apologies, reparations (formal or just via progressive taxation), criminal justice reforms and affirmative action black people (or blak as they sometimes call themselves in Australia) are going to be happy and we’ll all dance together in harmony. Some day the Gap will be Closed

Sometimes I wonder if there's anyone left anywhere who actually believes this. Someone believed it fifty or sixty years ago, and every western country has been marching straight into the garbage can after it ever since.

Sometimes I wonder if there's anyone left anywhere who actually believes this.

I don't know whether it is possible to achieve, but it would be a good outcome if it were, and I believe it is every person's duty to put their greatest effort towards it.

Those of us who try, even if we are not successful, will be able to stand before the Ultimate Judge and say that we did not fail to do our utmost.

Sometimes I wonder if there's anyone left anywhere who actually believes this

Essentially nobody "actually" believes it in the sense that they would bet their life savings on it. But at the same time, many people believe it in the sense that they have sincerely fooled themselves into believing it; they will sincerely and eagerly support public policies based on these beliefs; etc.

The fact is that most people are pretty good at fooling themselves into believing ridiculous things; things that deep down they know aren't true.

Yes, I meet fairly intelligent people all the time who actually believe this. Trying to suggest to them that the truth is less hopeful has never gone well.

I think this is straightforwardly because everyone in Western society has been raised from birth to believe that some ideas are right, some ideas are wrong, and some ideas are evil. That last category can never even be seriously considered without becoming the absolute worst sort of person. No one wants to be the bad guy, so open-mindedness here is strongly contraindicated.

I understand the logic that sits behind their way of thinking. The day you stop believing people can live together in harmony, peace and security is the day you lose it. If the attempts to keep that vision alive were always going to be doomed to fail and if America is the next USSR or the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then I’m not really optimistic about the future.

It's worth noting that neither of those Empires looked like a powder keg ten years before they detonated.

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