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 -
I think the answer is that these efforts are motivated primarily by Jew-hatred rather than the desire to save money.
In any event, one can flip the question around: If you just want to save money, and you aren't motivated by Jew-hatred, why not demonstrate your good faith by campaigning to end US spending on a few other things? I mean, certainly people have good reason to suspect your motivations.
Ackshually you can't cut money for my pet cause until you've proven to my satisfaction that you care about saving money more than you care about hurting my cause. The USAID stuff? Sorry, doesn't count. The ACA cuts? Doesn't cut it for me boss. Keep trying. But remember, you cut my stuff last, after I'm satisfied you're not in this just cuz you hate me.
To be clear, I'm against US military aid to Israel so I wouldn't call it a "pet cause"
So I would put it slightly differently:
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
"suspect your motivations"
This is how you ended up with woke mindreading and prior to that, runaway prog accusations of "dog-whistling"
I'm not sure what you mean by "woke mindreading," but in any event, when someone proposes a change to public policy, it's entirely reasonable (in my opinion) to consider the motivations behind the proposal. And if it seems that the proposal is not being made in good faith, to take that into account in deciding whether to support or oppose that proposal.
Do you disagree?
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link