site banner

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 13, 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
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Jeff Bezos' ex-wife, Mackenzie, has launched 10 figures into charity in the last couple years, and it seems remarkably difficult to tell what that figure has actually accomplished in terms of yield and realworld impact.

She could do it, because there is already huge, decades old network of left wing charities and NGO's ready to be funded. Lots of the cash was snatched by the organizers for large mansions and other necessary expenses, but most of really went where it was supposed to go.

There is no such thing in right wing world (excluding mainstream and useless conservative institutions). All of potential right wing donor cash will be instanly appropriated by grifters and scammers.

The difference between supplying organized army that is fighting, vs just sending stuff to nowhere.

It seems pretty hard to tell what Mackenzie actually accomplished with that money, though. I'd almost make the argument that the Leftwing side of charity having a combination of superabundant funding and so much time to get the grifterverse together is way more efficient at stripping donations. Rightwing donors are more likely to have to make actual virgin efforts where it's easier to tell if something has occurred

All of potential right wing donor cash will be instanly appropriated by grifters and scammers.

That feels very much not true. Considere AIPAC. Sure, notionally bipartisan, but I will call support for an ethnostate with a far-right government enacting far-right policies a right-wing cause area.

And quite effective, too. I think there was recently a vote where only about a quarter of the representatives were willing to vote for cutting funding for Israel. I doubt that this reflects the electorate.

(White nationalists, you heard it here first: don't waste your donations on the KKK, MAGA or Neonazi groups, when AIPAC can offer you ten times the blood on your hands per dollar spent.)

AIPAC is, in a US context, actually bipartisan. The right is defined by opposing trans women in women's sports, even when no one supports it, and the left is defined by supporting abortion rights, even when no one is opposing them. AIPAC does neither.