Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
My wife and I have different views of the discourse around the Cornell 7. I'm seeing people sympathizing with Jane Doe and declaring the "obvious" guilt of the men. I have major problems with this, because there's not nearly enough evidence that actually indicates the men are guilty.
My wife told me that she isn't seeing so much of randos casting their judgement on the case, but rather women sharing their own stories of times they felt taken advantage of or were sexually assaulted, etc. And she thinks that's important and valuable in it's own right. Essentially, whether or not the allegations are true, this has had an brought women together to share their stories in a moment of cultural solidarity.
Even if my wife is correct, and the women reacting to the news coverage weren't just declaring these men guilty based on their own feelings, I still have some issues with the notion that this discourse is positive in its own right, and I'm trying to put it in a lens my wife would understand. I don't really think that she and progressives would agree that discourse and people sharing their victimization stories is always a good thing. As one example, there are many stories in the UK and Europe about people being victimized by new waves of immigrants. But for alleged victims to share those stories in solidarity would (in most progressive minds) create hatred and bias people against immigrants as a whole.
That's because the standard is "it's good when victims (as defined by progressive rules) share their stories."
Women are victims of white men (and men in a fraternity are white men for these purposes even if some of the Cornell ones aren't white), so it's good that women share their stories of being victims. However, immigrants/refugees are victims of the West, so it's their stories that need to be shared, not those of any people (even if women) that the immigrants victimize.
If someone subscribes to progressive victimology, then there is no lens that will change this interpretation.
It’s hard to tell whether progressives just have an ideological blind spot and don’t recognize the disparities that cut across their beliefs or they’re actually being disingenuous. The other day I just decided to scroll through the last couple weeks of videos from some progressive channels and decided to check out David Pakman. I always try to keep a balanced media diet on occasion, lest I risk becoming too self-referential and stuck in my own echo chamber. It was the usual shit. Hadn’t changed much in the last year or so since I’d checked him out. Except one thing stuck out like a sore thumb.
During the 2024 debate between Trump and Biden (back when Biden was still the presumptive nominee), Pakman was one of the loudest (and most delusional) people who seemed to be running cover for Biden’s qualifications. That he was mentally fine. Fit. Had no dementia and everything was okay. He even had callers on his program who were progressives who were questioning Biden’s mental acuity. Now fast forward and look at his latest reel of videos. It’s all about Trump’s mental decline (which is nowhere near as bad as Biden’s was), not knowing where he is, stumbling around, having a senior moment, etc. I don’t know whether he’s biased or just stupid. But it’s fascinating to watch in real time and almost nobody else notices it.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link