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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 24, 2023

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A related question - do examples like these (where apparently prestigious or large institutions have something batshit going on) change your calculus on progressive power?

I think I share the basic intuition that most people, even quite left-leaning, aren’t actually insane, and are quite reasonable in discussion. But I think I depart from your viewpoint in that I think there are a lot more people that just regurgitate progressive shibboleths without really thinking it through (as I know quite a few, and I’m not even in the US!), who moderate their internal opinions if they are given a chance to actually review what they say; and that I’m not incredibly surprised by incidents like the above happening, because the insane wing of the movement has shown itself to be able to punch way above its weight in various ways.

(For what it is worth, my read is that this well of power and - to borrow a word - privilege is running increasingly low now, and it was never to a point where the ideological capture threatened the entirety of society - just the most obnoxiously vocal parts.)

I suppose what I’m asking is - what are you continuously surprised by?