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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   35016 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of April 3, 2023

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There needs to be a taxonomical distinction between political views and what I have recently decided to call "normative views". Political views relate to government policy, and normative views relate to the way we use language and the way we treat each other, i.e. social norms. Whether we define racism as racial discrimination or "prejudice plus power" is a normative issue, as is whether it's ever okay to misgender someone. These issues are only political insofar as they can be affected at the ballot box, and they generally cannot. (Public schools teaching CRT is an example that you can go after at the ballot box.)

Political views relate to government policy, and normative views relate to the way we use language and the way we treat each other

These two things are incredibly, fundamentally, inextricably, linked together.

To suggest that they could come apart, and furthermore that it’s desirable for them to come apart, is to already advance a substantive political position that will not find universal assent.

They are connected, but there is an obvious difference. Why do we use one word, "political", to conflate axiology, morality, and law?

Because all of those things inspire question about policy, and any question about what policies should be enacted by politicians is political by nature. This is also why things like Covid "got politicized"; the virus itself isn't political, but the question of what we should (and should not) do about it is.

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