site banner

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 26, 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.

4
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I look at that and say to myself you’d make a good defense contractor for wanting to prolong the inevitable conflict. Unless you’re a moderate or centrist. By default something always wins. I’ve been living under leftist hegemony for far too long. Not that a rightist hegemony would be any better, if it doesn’t reflect my particular bend. A dictatorship of rednecks, trucks, overhauls and meth isn’t anymore desirable than one with blue haired feminists, limp wristed men questioning their sexuality, and kids moving around and discarding parts of their body.

I have actually considered trying to figure out how to make money from both sides at the same time. I would find that amusing. However, I'm not sure if my conscience is sufficiently loose to let me engage in the necessary deception. Maybe I should let go of such qualms if I really want to really become a political player at some point.

My more fundamental motivation is that: I am neither a left-winger nor a right-winger -- however, I don't currently see a way to create a viable movement that would represent my actual political desires. The next best thing, then, is to play the left and right against each other in a way that prevents either from taking complete control, maximizes the chances of things that I want happening, and perhaps lays the groundwork for creating a movement that does reflect my desires.