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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   5858 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026

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Fourth/Fifth Amendment.

I believe this is a big part of the axis we are discussing, and they have better privacy and due process in most countries than the US now. Many European countries have guns (as if that's important), and they have almost as much free speech as the US. I will say the US wins on free speech due to only the topic of HBD and no other topic, although that can be done remotely so doesn't matter. Just do your free speech in English from US servers while living in Europe if talking about race is really that important (That's the only topic they lose on in free speech). Fun fact is most of the HBD intellectual sphere is based in Europe and, there are no hate speech arrests, in part because they do this.

(That's the only topic they lose on in free speech)

No, (some) European nations also suppress political speech and straight-up ban specific political parties in a way the United States does not. They restrict religious speech and religious expression, and some of them heavily restrict or ban home education. They objectively restrict firearms more heavily than in the United States, and they also generally have higher tax burdens. I'm not even sure you are as correct about privacy as you think – while Europe loves to talk about the GDPR, my understanding is that their government-run CCTV networks are generally much more developed than the ones in the United States. And likewise my understanding is that in some European countries (e.g. Poland or Italy) a judge is not required to sign off on a warrant - a prosecutor can do that, which would be considered a very alarming breach of due process in the English tradition. Some European nations also have mandatory conscription, which is a practical imposition on freedom even if you do not consider it a principled one.

I also am skeptical that you are as correct as you think about European attitudes towards sexuality. Looking at Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Poland, all of them except for Italy set the final age of consent at 18, and Italy sets it at 16 (which is the age of consent in many US states). It is true that Germany, Italy, France, and Poland all shave a year or two off in many circumstances, but I don't think it is as much of a free-for-all as you might think (for instance, as per Wikipedia, "while the age of consent is 14 in Germany, it is illegal for a person over 21 to engage in sexual activity with a person under 16 if the activity exploits the inexperience of the younger person"). I suspect that these laws are likely written to avoid entrapping teenagers, not to allow middle-aged men to hook up with 15-year olds risk-free, even if Europe is often generally more "sex positive" than in the United States.

It is true that the level of freedom in the US (and Europe) can vary tremendously, depending on where you are, and I'm not trying to minimize that. But as far as I can tell, your gloss is directionally wrong. Where I think Europe as a whole probably has a comparative advantage versus the United States is in consumer rights.

all of them except for Italy set the final age of consent at 18

The UK sets it at 16. What do you mean by 'final'?

Where I think Europe as a whole probably has a comparative advantage versus the United States is in consumer rights.

By the tiniest of margins. They at least considered Stop Killing Games, but still rejected it. The bar is extremely low.

Looking at Germany, the UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Poland, all of them except for Italy set the final age of consent at 18

The age of consent in the UK is 16, unless 'final age of consent' means something different to the normal use.

Which countries are you thinking of? The big ones the US hears about are UK/Germany, and they both seem harsher on natives committing speechcrime, such as liking a meme or calling a violent criminal a mean name, than immigrants committing gang rape. Is it the Netherlands that keeps convicting that right-wing politician for saying unpleasant but true things about Islam?

You're probably thinking of Geert Wilders, although there are plenty other interesting cases.

UK is way worse than the US. I'm talking about continental Europe (I think Anglos are the problem -- the rest of the Anglosphere is mostly worse than the US). I think it is Belgium which persecutes Dries Van Langenhove (he is from Flanders). He is getting plenty of due process and the sentence is relatively light. When these laws come to the United States it will be ten years for the «very serious crime».

Van Langenhoven and eight other core members of Schild en Vrienden were to appear in the Ghent court on 25 April 2022.[16] However, Van Langenhove submitted a request of recusal against Serlippens citing political bias, claiming that she had previously liked and retweeted a poem on Twitter referring to him and former immigration minister Theo Francken as "rancid" and "fascist." Serlippens subsequently withdrew from the judicial investigation as a result and a new investigating judge was appointed.[17] A fresh appeal made by Van Langenhove to investigate political impartiality in the trial was refused by the new judge and the Belgian Court of appeal. In September 2021, Van Langenhove's lawyer requested that certain investigative actions against him be annulled on grounds of bias and breach of privacy.[18] In 2023, the trial against Van Langenhove and Schild & Vrienden was scheduled for September.[19] In March 2024, he received a 1-year prison term for inciting violence, and was banned from running for elected political office for ten years.[20][21] In June 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld the guilty verdict, but suspended the prison sentence due to delay.[22] His further appeal was rejected by the Cours de Cassation in January 2026.[23]

As far as I know they've been after him for 5 years and thanks to due process he might do 1 year in a decent quality of life European prison. If it were the United States after him for posting the wrong bytes on the internet he'd already be in prison and he'd have 10 years left, and good 'ol Americans would joke how much he is probably getting raped by black men inside.

Dries Van Langenhove

Why do you think this case helps your argument? As far as I can tell, his "crime" is purely political speech. If he did it in the US, we have the First Amendment, so he would never even be charged, much less investigated for it. He would definitely not get 10 years in prison for it as you falsely suggest. If he got even a 1 year sentence, we would consider it an abhorrent affront to the constitution and to the ideals of liberty and justice that the country was founded upon. Yet you think this not only looks good for Belgium, but Belgium is better than the US, because "[h]e is getting plenty of due process and the sentence is relatively light" as you say (which seems like missing the point entirely).

Am I missing something? I'm struggling to understand your reasoning here.

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