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 did see a fair few comments fearful that he would be the next Fetterman. For me, that seems somewhat baseless.
Part of why I shared so many comments was to show that he's been what I would call quite leftist for longer than 4 years. He was calling cops bastards in 2020, talking about having moved further left at the time of an influential leftist's death, many comments talking about the dangers of fascism. Sure, he mocked gay people, he spoke coarsely on other subjects, but he seems to hold genuine belief on these other subjects. I could chalk up the offensive comments to just being a high T rough stuff type guy who participated in two wars. But keeping guns to keep the fascists in check, being an instructor in a Socialist rifle club, saying he tells people not to thank him for his service... Fetterman was never that far left, was he? What beliefs was the Substack author referring to when saying "mix of right and left"? As Platner would tell you himself, Marx was never about surrendering guns, so in his case, that's not indicative of a right wing belief to me. Securing the border could be, which he has professed support for. I think he was talking about more government support for veterans? That's not usually a leftist talking point, but he's a veteran appealing to moderates. I fail to see how he's been anything but hard left for probably at least 8 years now.
More options
Context Copy link