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.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
An elite media team like Mamdani's would be able to find the exact photo composition and tone needed to pull that off. The more general rule is, "never let the public see your moments of weakness". A single bad photo would backfire.
Then you post a POV shot of a zoom meeting with your campaign staff with a box of tissues and a cup of tea on the table. Or a picture of your 104 degree temperature. Or a meme about how shitty having to work when you have the flu is. Literally anything is better than just disappearing for 12 days.
For someone who should be young, healthy, and robust, it should be even more important to demonstrate in some way how serious your illness is. Most of us would require a pretty substantial justification to miss 12 days of work in the middle of the busy season, especially when our jobs are on the line. It's possible that the worse he looks, the better. It would be evidence that this is serious and he isn't just being a little bitch who can't handle the pressure of a major campaign. Catching an unlucky strain of flu that takes you out of commission is nothing to be ashamed of. Taking the better part of two weeks off because of a minor illness or stress looks a lot more concerning.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link