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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 6, 2026

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There are certain varieties of loserdom which are compatible with being extremely dangerous. Riad Bouchaker was both a loser (his stated reason for his violent outburst was that his social welfare application was denied) and extremely dangerous to the young girls he permanently maimed. Likewise Vickrum Digwa, Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr. or any school shooter you care to mention. Just about any able-bodied person with a knife or a gun can pose a legitimate threat, no matter how ineffectual or pathetic they otherwise are.

However, being dangerous by virtue of being such a compelling and seductive public speaker that you can persuade an army of anonymous footsoldiers to do violence against your enemies through words alone is not compatible with being an insignificant loser. Anyone charismatic and persuasive enough to amass an army of thousands (whom they've never even met) willing and able to do violence on their behalf is definitionally not a worthless loser. It takes considerably more skill and intelligence to persuade someone you've never met to stab someone than to stab them yourself.