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Culture War Roundup for the week of August 24, 2026

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To me, the reactions against 9/11, 10/7, and school shootings aren't much different. None are inevitable in theory (and certainly all are tragic), but in practice the optimal amount is not zero; there are responses that go too far, which indirectly kill more people while not even helping (especially in the long run), and people with hidden incentives abuse emotion to argue such policies.

But I agree with you that the counter isn't to dismiss 9/11 as not a terrorist attack or Hamas as not evil. We can still try to solve these problems in ways that improve society overall, and maybe reduce them, maybe in the distant future almost entirely; I suspect many people in the 1900s would be shocked at today's murder and starvation rates, falsely believing higher ones would always be inevitable. It's like how when people see stereotype-reinforcing statistics, they should understand that the statistic does not imply they should assume members follow the stereotype (e.g. inverse fallacy), but some dismiss the statistic entirely to reach the same conclusion, they can't believe both for some reason.