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Culture War Roundup for the week of September 14, 2026

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Love it or leave it, but woke.

This weekend, The University of Texas played The Ohio State University in Austin, TX. A screen shot went viral on Twitter showing a crowd of Indian students celebrating the victory.

"Heritage Americans", the dissident right, the Woke Reich, or whatever you want to call them went crazy, pointing out the massive demographic changes in Texas that are happening. This is true. Anyone who has been to Texas knows whites are a minority here in any medium sized and larger city. The changes have been stunning and within 30 years, it is unrecognizable.

Critics rightfully pointed out that they were pretty much just being racist. You talk about integration, and here are immigrants and children of immigrants celebrating a victory in football wearing cowboy hats. What is more American than that? You clearly just don't like Indian people.

An Indian politician said that this is what Texas is. If you don't like it, LEAVE! There is some truth to this. This is what Texas is now, but historically the South Asian population has been tiny. This is a very recent development. Is 20 years all it takes for Texas to become something new? If you are 30 and above, you probably grew up with almost no Indians. Now this is what Texas is and you have to leave if you don't like the changes?

This reminds me of the UK. Pre-Windrush, the UK was 99.9% white. As recently as 1991, it was 95% white. Now though, if you complain, you are going against British values. For thousands of years, the UK was essentially 100% white. Within a few generations, it is a multi-cultural country and if you don't like that, LEAVE! We are not a white society, and actually never were. I could go on and on, but with the exception of Reform, that is the general consensus now.

Back to Texas. It's crazy how quickly this can happen. Mass migration can happen and within one generation, this is seen as the new default and any complaints about this are seen as against the new values. Of course, the biggest gatekeepers of this isn't the left. They really have no control over their outgroup other than canceling people and social pressure, but if you don't care what they think, what can they really do? The center-right has also rushed to condemn people criticizing the massive demographic replacement in Texas. People like Dan Crenshaw rushed to condemn the racism and call out this anti-Indian racism and essentially sided with the left, who hates them. They have essentially said the same thing as the left and that these aren't Texas values to be racist. So basically, love it or leave it, but woke. If you don't like the new Texas, leave.

But where will they go? You basically have to live in a state like Texas for access to the best jobs. schools, dating, etc. It's insane to me how fast we can accept something new that is unprecedented as the new normal without considering the consequences. Only weirdos and disagreeable people point this out, and by the time people start to see the consequences, it will be too late (assuming there are negative consequences, which should be obvious is my POV).

Going crazy on Twitter? That plus a dollar will buy you a Costco hot dog.

This is a very recent development. Is 20 years all it takes for Texas to become something new?

No, it’s still Texas. The presence of nonwhite people has not changed the character, traditions, even the political landscape of the area. Sometimes unfortunately.

If you are 30 and above, you probably grew up with almost no Indians.

Not in my experience, but what do I know? I’m sure the Brits understand better.

Now this is what Texas is and you have to leave if you don't like the changes?

Only for a sufficiently strong value of “don’t like.” You know, like anything else. Taxes too high? Can’t own a gun? Tired of hippies? Maybe you should leave those states.

But no, that’s quitter talk. Real Anglo-Saxon cowboys gather their posse and run the degenerates out of town. Anything else would be unacceptable value drift. If you don’t shoot the tax collector you’re basically allowing white genocide.

Mass migration can happen and within one generation, this is seen as the new default and any complaints about this are seen as against the new values.

No, they’re the old values. Sometimes values apply even to people you don’t like. Cultural replacement can happen but it’s not magic. Getting a bunch of Indian students to come absorb your rituals is how it’s supposed to work.

They really have no control over their outgroup other than canceling people and social pressure

The enemy must be both strong and weak, huh?

But where will they go? You basically have to live in a state like Texas for access to the best jobs. schools, dating, etc.

Where, indeed? Why is it that the places with freedom of movement and speech have all the good stuff? How come the nonwhite people get to enjoy it? If you just pushed them all out, maybe you could enjoy that magic soil for yourself.

Only weirdos and disagreeable people point this out

You said it, not me. I wish you’d go for longer before bringing up your hobbyhorse. You got some good questions out of this account.


Twitter delenda est.

Why is it that the places with freedom of movement and speech have all the good stuff?

We had all the good stuff before freedom of movement, and freedom of movement is killing freedom of speech.

[Largest free speech platform] delenda est.

As here.


P.S.

Cultural replacement can happen but it’s not magic. Getting a bunch of Indian students to come absorb your rituals is how it’s supposed to work.

So is it absorption or replacement?

I think Twitter, as a medium, is bad for us in various ways. I think we’d be happier and more effective if we didn’t have the intelligentsia tapped into a high-frequency feedback loop. I wish it wasn’t popular.

This is not the same as wishing it was suppressed, or that the government destroyed it. I don’t have any plausible route to making it unappealing. It’s a shame, in my opinion.


I used an unclear article. What I meant to say was

Cultural replacement can happen but it isn’t inherent. Getting a bunch of Indian students to come absorb your rituals is more like assimilation.

The OP started from the (British?) assumption that Indians can only replace Texan culture. I think Texas has done a pretty good job assimilating them so far.

All right, fair enough. I get.. very irked... at the line of thought that seems to say, "The West is currently rich. Because it's rich, lots of people want to come here. Because the number of people coming here has historically been greater than literal zero, the West is rich because of freedom of movement. Therefore, accept replacement. The destruction of your culture is your culture, see?".

I was probably a bit pissy in respect to your particular message but you do seem to have a very triumphalist view of freedom of movement that I do think is genuinely running roughshod over people's desire to preserve their home, and I have very little sympathy for it.

I think Texas has done a pretty good job assimilating them so far.

I think this is optimistic. Britain thought we'd done a good job of assimilating the 5% immigrant population we had 20 years ago, and didn't account for the fact that:

a) having an immigrant in every conversation about immigration makes it very hard to raise issues about immigration

b) immigrant cultures start flexing a lot more muscle as their numbers increase

Understood. I’m a lot more sympathetic to your points. I saw OP getting away with a (what I consider) pretty sloppy version of the argument and I let myself respond pretty carelessly/indignantly.

Then we are in furious agreement :)