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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   28313 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 4, 2024

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It does seem like (unsurprisingly, I guess) a lot of people right and left converge on "the Problem with Society is [my pet "structural" peeve], not 'merely' [poor moral choices], and to solve it we will need [new sociological insights and methods] because [traditional cultural and legal incentives] are boring insufficient to the crisis we face."

Which I think is not dissimilar to how things were around 100 years ago, where the communists/fascists/socialists-of-the-chair all had remarkably similar ideas about what was to be done despite vehemently and violently disagreeing with one another.

Which I think is not dissimilar to how things were around 100 years ago, where the communists/fascists/socialists-of-the-chair all had remarkably similar ideas about what was to be done despite vehemently and violently disagreeing with one another.

And they all made the wrong choices, against individualism and merit, (and, unfortunately, there are many things in the free world with similar effect, though to a lesser extent).

I don't think it's wrong to talk about structural problems, you just have to do it with your eyes open, be aware of tradeoffs and complications behind the scenes, etc. Communism is an obvious structural problem. DEI being essentially mandated by the government is an obvious structural problem, that we can (hopefully) one day fix.

Of course, poor moral choices matter too. But the only real way to affect those at an appreciable scale are through things with far-reaching effects, which include structural things.

Any substantial reforms should of course involve cultural or legal incentives.

Does that "wrong choice" include eugenics and the Nazi "merciful death" program, in your view?

Oh, I just meant the overall collectivization, group identity things.

I'm not familiar with the programs in question, but from the name, I assume they're not good, if that's what you're asking?

I think eugenics and euthanasia are concepts worthy of consideration, and the German military defeat in 1945 does not turn them into "wrong choices".

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