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Friday Fun Thread for August 21, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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This is a lot more optimism about the extent to which society serves its typical members than I'm personally inclined towards.

Why? If it didn't serve its typical members well, wouldn't it be easy to change?

Not in the slightest. Taboos are sticky.

How do you know that? Where does a taboo come from if not from an intention to serve a community's members well? In a country with free speech, how sticky can taboos be? Surely they must have enough decay. We've seen many taboos change very fast in the last 100 years ... in fact, there's if anything a force towards raising the age of consent. Under a sticky old taboo we'd expect a decay.

Have you not noticed the cited reasons for that change?

I don't think the reason is known for certain but generally one needs >50% in a democracy to enact the change.