site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   25108 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 24, 2026

This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.

Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.

We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:

  • Shaming.

  • Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.

  • Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.

  • Recruiting for a cause.

  • Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.

In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:

  • Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.

  • Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.

  • Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.

  • Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.

On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.

5
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I am interpreting the most iconic and influential cultural artifacts that elevate the Country Club golfer as the villain and the outsider, styled to represent the antithesis of Country Club culture, as the hero.

Happy Gilmore is one example, the other most influential film that explores these themes is Caddyshack where we also see a Jewish outsider, Al Czervik played by Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Cohen), come into conflict with the Gentile Judge Smails (played by Ted Knight). Interestingly, Czervik tells Smails he did not come to the club as a guest in order to acquire membership but to buy the club. So there's another layer of meaning there- Czervik is not trying to gain access as a member he's trying to take over the institution. There's no question the film is getting at a deeper message of new Jewish arrivals, "guests", acquiring financial success and coming into cultural conflict with the WASP "old guard"- expressing as a struggle over the control of cultural institutions, and the criticism of those too closely associated with Whites.

It's a much stronger and less useful claim to say that these films "started the trend" of ressentiment towards Country Club golf culture, my claim is merely that they represent it through a highly influential medium. And in both cases the conflict between the Country Club golfer and the low-class or homo novus outsider is ethnically coded as a conflict between Jews and Gentiles, with the Jews winning and the Gentiles being humiliated. It demoralizes those who identify with that culture and moralizes the people who hate it, whether that hatred is derived from ethnic or class resentment.

There's no question that there are many instances of Country Club Critique in other films, like this comedic bit in Better Call Saul where Goodman causes a scene by accusing the Club of being antisemitic. The most iconic and influential films that explore this theme are encoding an ethnic conflict along with a class conflict, and that's largely why they are compelling to this day.

I'm also reminded of the golf course scene from Falling Down, though D-FENS isn't exactly a hero. https://youtube.com/watch?v=x1-axqBZdNk

Haven't seen that but good one. Michael Douglas also kills a neo-Nazi store owner in that one.

I mean, George of the Jungle doesn't involve golf, but the villain is very clearly a country club WASP, but I wouldn't say George is coded as being Jewish.

George from George of the Jungle was inspired by George Eiferman. So the character was based on a Jew originally, and the hunter villain is a WASP with an Oxford accent.

Brendan Fraser is not Jewish, although that's a popular misconception because Fraser played the role of David Greene in School Ties:

David Greene (Brendan Fraser), is a working class Jewish high school student from Scranton, Pennsylvania, who is awarded an athletic scholarship to an elite preparatory school in Massachusetts during his senior year in 1955. His fellow students come from rich families, and he learns that most of them are antisemites, which forces him to hide his Jewish background.

Of course his identity his exposed by Charlie (Matt Damon) and the whole school turns on him- bullying, Swastikas, etc.

The point is not that all myths or movies feature a "Jew versus Gentile" conflict, but to say "Jewish hero and Gentile villain" is a very common esotericism in film that transmits a certain, particularly Jewish perspective of ethnic conflict into the consciousness of mass audiences. Caddyshack and Happy Gilmore are two examples.

The same phenomenon appears in Hollywood mockery and criticism of Fraternities, like in Accepted, Revenge of the Nerds (who join the Black fraternity (!) to get revenge on Alpha Beta), Animal House, etc.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats