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 could be wrong, but I imagine that the average blue-collar worker probably thinks of ultra-high-price escorts as being kinda cool, weird, and glamorous rather than resenting them. It's the same with athletes and entertainers. The average blue-collar worker would direct a bit of occasional grouchy complaining towards them for being supposedly overpaid, but would have no genuine hate in his heart toward them. He can see how they directly provide obvious value to people through various kinds of entertainment. And when it comes to prostitutes, there is the added factor that they are doing a job that the blue-collar worker imagines to be very unpleasant. His resentment toward prostitutes would be largely limited to the subset of prostitutes who do morally dubious things like chase NBA players with the key intent of getting pregnant by them.
I wouldn't be surprised if the blue-collar worker actually felt more animosity toward well-paid white-collar workers whom he imagines (largely accurately) sit on chairs all day long doing arcane corporate bullshit that has unclear tangible value.
That said, the blue-collar worker might well feel resentful of the ultra-high-price escort if her clients are people he feels animosity toward for being supposedly wimpy: highly paid tech workers instead of finance bros, for example.
To be fair, this is largely me going off of vibes I feel like I've picked up in real life and online, not based on any actual data. So I could be totally wrong.
We dislike certain white collar occupations(consultants, ambulance chasers, etc) but recognize the masses of accountants and customer service representatives as having real jobs; we see prostitutes in the same category as drug dealers, loansharks, and other dubiously legal occupations. You're correct that we don't particularly resent them, although we might resent obviously overcharged clients if they're seen as doing things that provide no value to the world for having the money to spend.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link