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PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   20997 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 18, 2026

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Well it's probably not the right spot to have this convo/for me to have asked but I appreciate the reply. If I had to concisely respond I'd say that

  • political hate isn't new and I'm skeptical of "no promise this time it actually is the worst ever"
  • control of institutional machinery of the state also has historically swapped often (even in the literal political spoils system era!) and we were fine-ish
  • procedural manipulation is literally inherent in the job of government, for example the entire system where we elect DAs is quite straightforwardly a matter of codified selective enforcement to begin with
  • I think even in terms of social fabric there's decent evidence that many alleged Woke converts were pressured into it all along and so if it goes even more out of style we'll see some "snapback"
  • Most importantly I still fail to see how you make the jump from conservatives being like, even at their worst a good 40+% of the population, to "extinction".

Perhaps the best simple question would then be, that would have the most revealing answer, is how do you really define extinction? I do happen to think Trump is dangerous to the system and so by rough analogous positions I don't particularly begrudge anyone who feels threatened by Woke or whatever you call it, but there's a bit of a difference in magnitude between "we're headed for a lost decade politically as the minority party" and "we will go extinct". Apologies if there's some conflation here between bipolar political parties and Woke vs [its opposite or neutral POV] as more general movements or ideologies, but since you framed it as being "ruled" I think that's relevant.

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