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 -
Following up on an earlier post of mine, the Democratic National Convention has released their long-awaited "autopsy" report. Critics of the party will get some immediate schadenfreude upon opening the document: the default font, the hastily-added red addenda by a higher power, the missing sections and absent formatting. The sick pleasure continues upon the realization that neither Biden's senility nor the Israel-Gaza conflict (nor the associated hysteria) ever appear in the 100+ pages.
Digging deeper, CNN reports that the autopsy was compiled by "Democratic consultant Paul Rivera," a veteran of the Clinton administration and friend of DNC chair Ken Martin. Rivera's minuscule effort and misguided conclusions result in a paper with few citations, ignorant assessments, and a half-assed attempt at shielding the DNC from the worst of it.
Well, that's certainly backfired now. The DNC hasn't looked this incompetent at its highest levels of power since the scandals of 2016 (say, was anyone ever held accountable there?) and the oft-panicked-about "competence crisis" appears to have reached a high point.
There needs to be an autopsy on the autopsy report. I am 100% serious. Figuring out all the things that went wrong to allow this to happen would solve half of the party's problems. Reinterview witnesses. Reconstruct lines of thought and inquiry. Find the points of failure and conduct root-cause analysis.
The report is poorly written, unprofessional, and incomplete yes, but above all it is vapid. It doesn't even ask the questions that matter. The overwhelming majority of effort is focused on ad targeting and campaign spending.
Okay, what was the mistake then? What should be done differently next time around? Should the Vice President have changed her position or not? In fact, there is almost no discussion of issues in the report at all. A model of why anyone would want to vote for one party or the other is conspicuously absent.
I listened to the Pod Save America episode in which a few Harris campaign staffers were interviewed. They said that they tried to counter that ad, but the counter ads polled poorly with test groups. They were better off with generic ads about the economy.
Supposedly the "she's for they/them, Donald Trump is for you" ad is the mightiest ad in modern history. Around a 2% shift in voter sentiment; arguably election flipping if somehow that was very well targeted to likely voters in swing states.
I think an accurate autopsy would say to not stake out the most extreme and unpopular positions on culture war issues on camera. But they can't plainly state that so we get this report instead.
Being unable to articulate the most anodyne obvious solution means no lessons will ever be learnt. Those who know the deep histories will be forgotten to the sand of time and the textual history will just say "oh no wow the republicans were really mean to transgendered people!" without ever acknowledging the culpable role of tying oneself to such an insane position had in making such an attack land in the first place.
Most of the actual solutions are pretty well heresy for the left. There’s no backing down from the position of “support trans rights and the transition of anyone of any age who wants it” because this is the orthodox left liberal position. This is why that Trump ad was such a coup — the general public is not on board with the radical position of transgendering of children and only the most left-liberal people want transgender to be normalized in society. Trump or his team was able to win with the ad. She couldn’t respond in any way that undercut the effectiveness of the ad, as the far-left would reject her for anything other than full on support for trans rights. So the ad says “she’s into trans rights over the wants of regular people”, and she could only either keep silent or agree.
Sometimes I wonder if there's a cultural disconnect here. When I go into big blue cities and encounter transgender people, they're usually just awkward people trying to live their lives. When I encounter them out in the sticks, they're frequently weirdos who seem hellbent on making me a non-consensual participant in their fetish.
Is it possible the "transgender intolerance" of the right is a self reinforcing feedback loop? The sane transgender people move to the cities where they're more accepted, which makes them look better to the people there, but leaves the bad actors out in the country where they get off on making other people uncomfortable? Which in turn makes the people out in the country less tolerant?
Trans as a category is muddled beyond belief. Progs keep asking if normies wouldn't wanna fuck whatever heavily made up chiselled Jailey Bay fuckdoll gets plastered over the interwebs but in reality most trannies are awkward failed women or obnoxious Jessica Yaniv nonpassers. Blue city trans people are more likely just experimenting with labels and haven't gotten masectomies. Lets be real the big issue is men pretending to be women without having gone through the chop because male access to female spaces is rightfully suspect. A girl who wants to check out of the female presentation rat race can use "trans" or NB as convenient acceptable cover until she decides to abandon or commit. To pretend Angel Buck or Bailey Jay are representative of the trans community as a whole is pure definitional fuckery and every prog should be forced to watch the top of all time selection of reddits nonbinary subreddits selfies and really honestly say that they're all equally valid in whatever presentation they choose. Attach a motion sensor to their dick for proof.
You're a bit harsh, but I'd agree with the likes of restaurant guy being a clear scammer who is only looking for opportunities to be offended. The stock phrase about being misgendered as "a knife in the heart" and the performances picking on people clearly not native English speakers and demanding to see the manager demonstrate that. Doing it for social media clicks (and possibly hoping they can take a discrimination case against some restaurant or café to rake in some easy money).
That is someone who should be compelled to undergo mandatory sex reassignment surgery to become the woman they really are. Put up or shut up!
You've unlocked the secret to democrat revival of fortunes. Obligate trans maximalism. Dude says he wanrs to be trans? Government sponsored dick cutting. Get the fetishists at the eunuch archive to run it, they'll do it for free. No trans without surgery. Backing off? Sorry, then you're not trans. Make every tranny wannabe read Andrea Long Chus works as a primer and force them to go watch sissy hypno Zoolander style till they want to get their dicks cut off if they're on the fence. Domestic allies can't bitch about it because its trans maximalist, repubs are fine with perverts getting eunuched and off the streers. If its a kid then the parents should be celebrated, fucking opeds in the town newsletter about how this stunning and brave parent cut off their childs genitals in the name of progressivism. Pedal to the metal lets see who fucking commits.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link