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 -
The underlying moral claim of the racial progressive is not merely that a group average is worse and that this worse result is a travesty (this would be justice, it would be a group getting what they deserve). The racial progressive believes that there are blacks with the same nature as whites, and that if you tracked a white and black with the same “skill points” (simplifying) that the black would have a worse outcome. This is opposite of the reality. And they additionally believe that the low skill points blacks currently possess are an artifact of past moral transgressions by whites, transgressions which need reparation, while they ignore the past moral benevolence of whites to blacks, like lifting them out of a maximally oppressive environment in Africa and teaching them to read and so forth.
But the black is not seen as the retarded kid. There is a very important distinction to be made here. The black is seen as a secret genius who has been thwarted by evil school officials, a Will type character from Good Will Hunting (I imagine this is not really the protagonist’s name, I won’t google it). That an average IQ Black can perform averagely is seen as proof of their superiority, because their oppressive history would make any man perform worse. This is what they believe. A retarded kid is retarded, they are innately dumb and thus of low value. The black is actually valuable but has been unjustly attacked; he is all the more worthy of our admiration because of this; any low performance is simply the relic of white ppls’ original sin, for which we must be the constant penitent (in the extreme manifestations).
Praise and compassion feel good to receive. The black gets more praise and more compassion from, say, a boss who is very progressive. They also get more respect because of the ambient stereotypes (strong), and are seen as more cool because of the stereotype (eg dancing). These are all good social dynamics to be on the receiving end of; the praise socially-reinforces your good behacior, and the compassion increases a sense of belonging. These are advantages. The studies show that blacks are more narcissistic so it’s possible they do not, on average, recognize their myriad “unjust” blessings due to the ignorance of progressives (imo).
We can consider a parallel. If I never had a piano teacher because of evil oppressive monsters who hate me, and when I go to my first lesson my teacher is amazed at how well I can play, how would I feel? Quite great, actually. I will be a lot more confident and happy in my playing. I would be very reinforced. The other students would look upon my state when some envy, that I am the Harry Potter of the Pianoverse.
More options
Context Copy link