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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   2624 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for August 18, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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The song accomplishes the following:

  • Sympathy for the white lower and middle class, which may reach the ears of the near-damned rich men north of Jerusalem.

  • Focuses the cause of the complaints on the greedy.

  • Creates a rallying point around the artist.

Music is important for social and political movements, and in-groups are formed by complaining. This song may lead to concrete accomplishments through indirect influences down the road. Will other artists be inspired to make similar music? What about social organizers?

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Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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