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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   24335 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026

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It speaks to the inordinate amount of social and political capital that black people have today. There wouldn't be a shred of sympathy from either aisle if Arday was Israeli or Indian. I don't have a strong opinion on whether the dogpiling was deserved or not (okay, maybe I'm leaning towards not).

Academic misconduct is a serious issue, and this was a grown man who knew what he was doing, mental illness or not. His fate was sealed by his own choices, his widow and children will bear the brunt of his actions now.

It speaks to the inordinate amount of social and political capital that black people have today. There wouldn't be a shred of sympathy from either aisle if Arday was Israeli or Indian

Is it their social and political capital? Or is it that people subconsciously see them as lacking agency? With Arday, it's hard not to see him as a child who was in way over his head, being used as a pawn in someone's status game.

Is it their social and political capital? Or is it that people subconsciously see them as lacking agency?

I'm not sure how "people subconsciously see you as lacking agency [(in a way that makes it morally obligatory for them to appease you)]" isn't basically definitionally "having social and political capital."

I'm not sure how "people subconsciously see you as lacking agency [(in a way that makes it morally obligatory for them to appease you)]" isn't basically definitionally "having social and political capital."

Elsewhere in this thread I gave a few examples of individuals whom I believe (1) have a great deal of social/political capital; (2) were involved in activities which could have subject them to a great deal of criticism; and (3) weathered the (potential) storm, but not by being perceived as lacking in agency.

Those 3 individuals (all white men) were Alan Dershowitz; Richard Posner; and Bernie Sanders.

So I think it's not quite the same thing.

That's fair; "definitionally" is wrong in my previous comment. But I do think that people subconsciously seeing you as lacking agency is sufficient for having social and political capital, just not necessary. There are other ways to accrue social and political capital such as by being a charismatic politician with a popular message, but in this case, going towards people who bought into a popular ideology that mandated to them that they perceive people like Arday as lacking agency seems to have been the method.

That's fair; "definitionally" is wrong in my previous comment. But I do think that people subconsciously seeing you as lacking agency is sufficient for having social and political capital, just not necessary.

Well, let's flip things around. Looking at the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (to the extent they are still around), would you say that FLDS women, as a group, possess a great deal of social and political capital? Would you say that they are seen as lacking in agency?

I'm not super familiar with the FLDS, but I would guess that for the most part FLDS women are seen as lacking in agency, at least compared to men. As far as social and political capital goes, I suppose it depends on how you define the term. Certainly FLDS women are highly valued, notwithstanding the fact that they are expected to play a subservient role.

This is why I included a parenthetical in a bracket in the other comment, to clarify the type of perception of lack of agency is involved. Eg slaves in USA in 1850 were known to lack agency, but that didn't confer any particular social or political capital. But that has only a little in common with how Arday was perceived or treated.

This is why I included a parenthetical in a bracket in the other comment, to clarify the type of perception of lack of agency is involved. Eg slaves in USA in 1850 were known to lack agency, but that didn't confer any particular social or political capital. But that has only a little in common with how Arday was perceived or treated.

I see. I'm still not sure how one would precisely define "social and political capital," but yeah, I would say that if for whatever reason people are obligated to appease you, then yeah, that should probably count.

Is it their social and political capital? Or is it that people subconsciously see them as lacking agency?

Maybe those two things are related. The Women are Wonderful Effect seems to relate to regarding women as less agentic too.

Maybe those two things are related.

Well here are a few scenarios I thought of:

Alan Dershowitz, a well respected attorney and law professor who (1) was caught up with Jeffrey Epstein to some extent and accused of having relations with Virginia Giuffre (probably a false accusation, but still potentially damaging); and (2) was accused of plagiarizing parts of a book (as I recall, he blamed his research assistant);

Bernie Sanders, well respected among progressives, socialists, etc. despite having a substantial personal fortune;

Richard Posner, a well respected judge whose writings arguably contain a lot of political incorrectness.

My sense is that the social and political capital possessed by these men helped protect them. But what's interesting to me is that for the most part, people didn't take the position that the problems these men got into were the result of them being victims of circumstance, being innocent pawns who were manipulated by larger forces, etc. It seems they were all treated as having agency.

By contrast, it seems that this Jason Arday is thought of as lacking agency by both his supporters and his detractors.

My sense is that the social and political capital possessed by these men helped protect them.

I note there's another thing your 3 examples have in common. I don't think that's what protected them, but it's curious that a commonality like that exists among the 3 scenarios that came to your mind.

I note there's another thing your 3 examples have in common. I don't think that's what protected them, but it's curious that a commonality like that exists among the 3 scenarios that came to your mind.

I would ask that you speak plainly and not cryptically. I suspect you are trying to imply that there is some dark Jewish Conspiracy which, for reasons best known to the conspirators, goes out of its way to cover for Bernie Sanders (who has led the effort in the Senate to end US military aid to Israel) but persecutes Zionists such as Harvey Weinstein.

But I am not inclined to try to guess what your point is. So . . . what exactly are you trying to say here?

Edit: Oops, I misread your post. You said that the commonality did NOT protect them. So now I have absolutely no idea what your point is. I thought of 3 outspoken Americans, two of whom are attorneys, and they all happen to be of Jewish descent? Or maybe it's not the Jewish angle? Is it that they are all white men? (That's kind of the point.)

Seriously, what are you trying to say here?

This is not speaking plainly.

It also helps that at least two of them are incredibly competent.

Yeah. Not to 'imagine if this situation was reversed' this but if this entire arc was playing out along the lines of 'Conservative Professor gets #metooed on soft allegations, University publicly supports him for a week then concedes under weight of obviousness and then professor self-terminates a week later' then there'd be zero of this sympathy

In fact, we don’t even have to imagine: this exact situation happened in 2020 (Mike Adams, see links downthread)

Yeah and Mike Adams didn't violate any particular codes of conduct besides being a social media chud, from what I can see?

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