site banner
PaperclipPerfector  4d ago (text post)   15952 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 12, 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.

7
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I made a prediction that Iran might step up attacks before the midterms. Looks like that may be happening and the rates of attacks are up:

Two ships sink near Hormuz after being hit by projectiles amid surge in attacks

Container ship hit by projectile sinks in Strait of Hormuz, Singapore says

A Singapore-flagged container ship has sunk after being struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, according to Singaporean authorities.

All 21 crew members of GFS Pride were evacuated and no injuries were reported after the attack on Tuesday, which caused damage and a fire, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said.

Another Singapore-flagged container vessel, GFS Giselle, sustained hull damage after being hit by a projectile on Wednesday but was able to reach a safe anchorage with all 22 crew, it added.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said a ship hit naval mines and sank while passing through what they called an "unauthorised" route in the Strait of Hormuz.

The decision to pause the war by Trump remains puzzling to me, and it suggests a lack of conviction in the war effort. A side confident of success would act immediately rather than grant Iran weeks to strengthen its defenses, plan retaliation, consult its allies, and position its assets. One thing it certainly isn't doing is helping with inflation:

Consumer prices rose 3.7% annually in September as gas prices skyrocket

The consumer price index showed annual inflation of 3.7% in September after rising 0.6% for the month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.

The Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, posted an annual reading of 2.6% after climbing 0.3%.

Energy prices were a major factor again as gasoline rose 9.1% and accounted for half the increase in the index.

However, price pressures were broad-based, with gains in shelter, vehicle costs and apparel.

Trump seems to have a plan though, although it is not popular even among Republicans:

Bipartisan group of senators call on Trump to rescind Russian diesel deal

"This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our allies; it should be rescinded," wrote six Republican and six Democratic senators in a letter Tuesday to the president.

Polling numbers and prediction markets also paint a pretty bleak forecast for the Republicans.

From Nate Silver:

Over the weekend, Donald Trump hit yet another all-time approval rating low of net -23.9. As of today, he bounced back slightly to -22.4. That’s in large part due a pair of new polls — one from TIPP Insights and one from Noble Predictive Insights — that showed Trump at a relatively rosy net -13 and -12, respectively.

Things are also looking bearish for Trump on the issues. Net approval of how he’s handled trade (-28.7) and the economy (-29.9) are both near their all time lows. Trump’s inflation approval has dropped so much — to net -47.5 — that we’ve once again had to adjust the y-axis on our issue approval chart downward.

If things go as they seem, we are about to witness the end of the age of Trump. If we get a Blue Tsunami -- and I believe we will -- Republicans are going to turn on him. Why wouldn't they? What can he offer them at this point but big fat L's. The only question now is what comes next on the Right, because it's certainly not Trumpism.

Republicans are going to turn on him.

You've been sounding like a broken record repeating this talking point over and over. Trump got impeached twice and started a laughably incompetent coup, and he's still here. Surely this time he's going down.

Trump's influence will likely wane quickly after his term is over, as he's old as af and doesn't have any prospect of running for any other office. But you'd better get used to him being in the house because you have another 2 years of it.

Trump will remain the most powerful politician in America likely until the day he dies. You don’t literally need to be the one whose signature goes on an Executive Order to be the person where power resides. George Martin got this right. Joffrey sat on the thrown but the true power was Tywin. Whether it’s Little Rubio or Vance there power will be dwarfed by Trump and if it’s a Dem all eyes will still be on Trump though he will be less powerful in that scenario.

Why else would Dems still be talking about prosecuting Trump if his political power disappears when he’s not in the WH?

Trump will remain the most powerful politician in America likely until the day he dies.

This is good for Trump. It is questionable how good it is for Republicans.

Even if we grant that the GOP would not have won the elections that Trump did, a lot of the political capital and momentum of the movement post-2024 win has been bled off on Trump-specific nonsense like his potential connections to Epstein and now this massively unpopular war.

Why else would Dems still be talking about prosecuting Trump if his political power disappears when he’s not in the WH?

Because they believe he tried to subvert democracy, and voters cannot be trusted to punish that.

I like Trump. Mostly like the war. The I think it’s a good thing. This basically comes down to whether you are maga or your a I don’t like the Dems GOP. He retains power because a lot of people like him.

I own a Tesla. What do I care about fuel prices. And honestly don’t understand why any other car company exists at this point because they are inferior products.

Fuel prices make everything more expensive. You pay your share at the grocery store.

yeah his approval ratting is 33%, which is higher than zero. Nominally, there are a lot of people who do like him. It also helps that the dems run the worst possible candidates.

33% is basically as high as you can get now in American politics. We don’t have a uniform culture anymore but a fractured culture so the days of high approval rating are over. Early in a new term people get like 50%, but it seems apparent now that everyone’s going to go down to 30’s once people have things to blame on them.

We aren’t an 85% white Christian nation anymore that you can maintain high favorability doing what that uniculture wants.

33% is basically as high as you can get now in American politics.

Are you saying America was a different country the day before Trump launched the latest installment of ZOG vs Iran Nth: the oil-fired Boogaloo? Because his approval rating was higher back then.

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