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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 27, 2026

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What made you want to resurrect these two ancient (by internet standards) videos for discussion today? The Counter Arguments YouTube channel is a blast from the past for me. Used to watch his stuff regularly. He's interesting in that it seems he really meant it when he retired.

As for privilege itself, it's always been a naked attempt to take what others have for yourself. If people were really serious about privilege, they would advocate for serious reforms to our selective institutions where any non-relevant characteristics are not only illegal to discriminate on, but impossible to discriminate on (because the selectors are unaware of them).

Blind orchestra auditions are a great example. What if we tried our best in every area of life to be blind to irrelevant characteristics? If you're auditioning to play the violin, only your ability to play the violin should matter, and that's all that should be considered in the decision of who to choose.

Here are some ways our institutions would change if we took this seriously:

  • Jurors not knowing the names, faces, or voices of either party in a trial.
  • Blind third-party evaluation of professional skills; employers not being allowed to choose the individual they hire, only from a pool of anonymous credentials.
  • Only allowing standardized test scores and vetted anonymous essays as university applications; no legacies, no unofficial racial quotas.

What are some other areas of life you think could be blinded in this way? It's fun to think about.

But, actually, I don't think we value this as a society, and the only thing critics of privilege don't like about it is that they aren't the beneficiaries.

What made you want to resurrect these two ancient (by internet standards) videos for discussion today?

We still hear complaints about privilege in today's politics, especially as it relates to race and gender. There are all sorts of stories around transgender people and how they experience both sides of gender privilege. I also just happen to love counter arguments and wish he was still around.

But fundamentally, I just don't think this is a good way to frame the discussion around the issues of disadvantaged people. Unfortunately, because it doesnt appear to be designed to actually do that.