site banner
PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   17566 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 25, 2026

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.

3
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Inflation is getting bad enough that weekly grocery haul for a family of five can easily cost hundreds of dollars. We’ve needed larger denomination bills for a while, the only reason we don’t have them is that it makes life easier for drug dealers.

I remember seeing a study that the largest holders of US cash was Russia and then Argentina. Neither are drug dealers and both have legitimate reasons to hold dollars. I think this was not state actors but individuals so even if Russia bad actual Russians are holding dollars for different reasons.

Groceries have gone up, but every time I see people on the internet quoting some ludicrous grocery budget for a small family it always turns out to be 'well we eat ribeyes and lobster for our meals, drink cokes instead of water and need enough oreos to snack on'. Normal staples just don't cost that much.

A paper bag of general groceries (some meat, some produce, some dairy, some canned good maybe a bag of coffee or something etc) peaked at about $50 at large brand name groceries this year.

It dropped to about $40, but is back near that again with recent price increases post the energy price increases.

It's true that my food budget is higher than it needs to be, but also true that it's been going up without my changing my purchasing habits.

Beef is undeniably high. And yeah beef consumption in America was not always as high as it is currently, but it's not a rebuttal to claims of inflation to say "well maybe we should return to humbler lifestyles." In fact that's a concession with finger-wagging attached.

Yes beef is high, but nobody ever thought eating steak very often was a reasonable expectation for normal people.

Steak no, but pot roast or ground beef? Those were staples for my family growing up, and we were not well-to-do.

Just looking at my own grocery bill, the prices of a lot of common staples like beans, eggs, rice, milk, flour, ground beef, etc... have all gone up 100-200% in the last 10 years and my gross income has not.

When my eldest was first starting to eat solid food a log of ground beef typically went for around $2.50/lb, today I feel lucky if I can find it for $6.

Chuck roast used to be around $4/lb. pre-Covid, and now I'm lucky if I can find it for $10/lb. on sale

Roast tough cuts and stew meat should be though.

The problem is even ground beef is ridiculously expensive now.

M impression is that it isn't necessarily more expensive relative to incomes than in the past (well, it is compared to the immediately pre-Covid past, but the generational past), but more that we've been sold a story of getting richer, and are not richer relative to the price of ground beef.

The price of ground beef really has significantly gone up, even in the last three years. The average income hasn't anywhere near as much.

Yes, that's why I said that it was worse than seven years ago.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats