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 -
https://apple.news/APEuOPHP2TWqeUTR_h8QypA
So the Republican speaker of the house has decided to open an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden’s business dealings with hunter. I have serious doubts that this will go very far as democrats still control the senate. This looks like an attempt to stir up the base for re-election season.
I personally see this as a big distraction as we have a lot of very serious problems that need to be addressed. BRICs, Taiwan, Ukraine, inflation, and
While this is terrible because of the polarisation which it will do nothing to calm down, part of me is going "Good. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander".
Because they've been throwing everything they can think of at Trump for years, and that means that if the accusations of fraud around the alleged election fraud is correct, it's been subsumed under the tide of "But he wasn't supposed to win, there must be some way we can get him for that!" suits and impeachments and the rest of it.
So what might be a genuine solid case of attempting to interfere with the results of a presidential election has been churned into the muck of partisanship, and that makes me angry. There's little to no way to unwrap it from the whole mess of "throw enough mud to see if some of it will stick" and the hysteria about coups, fascism, and dictatorship (I've read one online pronouncement that 'Trump has said when he gets into power he is going to kill Biden, he's literally plotting an assassination!') which means that a grave charge about something that affects a democracy is now just one more stick in the bundle.
See how you like the frivolous, time-wasting, 'there must be some way we can get him' impeachment when it's your guy on the line.
I mean if there weren’t very serious issues facing the average American, I’d have little problem with investigating and inquiries and so on. I’d have little problem with the UFO hearings in that situation. My biggest issue with this is that while we’re wasting time and money and attention on theatrical issues, there are lots of other issues that are being neglected that need attention. We have a huge drug problem, the border is basically nonexistent, a huge fire in Maui, a hurricane in Florida, inflation, a proxy war with Russia, people being unable to afford to buy homes or have children, and probably a few problems I’m forgetting.
And this is exactly how you end up with real deal fascist governments. The problems are not addressed by the elites and eventually the frustration grows big enough that the entire government loses legitimacy in the eyes of the people.
You’re not wrong, but wasn’t this also the case for the Trump impeachments and the Jan 6 committee? The first Trump impeachment started in December 2019 when COVID was first acknowledged in China and continued while it spread in Italy. The second impeachment came during some of the most strenuous arguments about continued lockdowns. Objecting to a political hit because of the “state of the world” is special pleading unless all political hits are off-limits forever and ever.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link