site banner

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 11, 2024

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.

7
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Tate literally exploits his own followers by selling them ‘fake advice’ predicated on a lifestyle that is itself reliant on selling the very same lonely young men access to camwhores. How is that good for young men? Tate exploits them more than he does any other demographic.

In the view of his young male followers I believe the expression goes "don't care, had sex." They wouldn't see it as exploitation insofar as it gets them what they want. The real exploitation taking place comes from women who end up behaving as useful idiots and reward men for poor conduct and disreputable sexual norms.

The women are typically the usual kind of trafficked Eastern European prostitute, though, these men can find her in any German brothel already.

You can find them here in America, willingly prostituting and giving themselves up on OnlyFans.

So what, whores have always existed and will always exist, and the men who associate with them voluntarily will always complain about them even though they choose those women, and will then judge all women by their behavior. What’s your point?

Yeah and likewise criminals have always existed as well. It doesn't mean mainstream society has to tolerate and be defined by it. He can remain as uninfluential and marginalized as he likes. Tate as civilization is the problem.

... and the men who associate with them voluntarily will always complain about them even though they choose those women, and will then judge all women by their behavior. What’s your point?

I'm guessing you don't read a lot of the opinion pieces that keep the news cycles running 24 hours a day. I'll let you in on something you apparently haven't noticed. These complaints are overwhelmingly written by women, not men.

"Actually the useful idiots are the ones exploiting others" is a new one.

Not sure how you got that out of my statement.

Is it slavery when you get what you want?

"The real exploitation taking place comes from women who end up behaving as useful idiots"

Did you mean to say "is aimed at women"? If not, it's kinda oxymoronic to say that a useful idiot is not the one who's being exploited (made use of).

Unless you think women are helping themselves by offering themselves up to men who would use, demean and then discard them, leaving them miserable and with a trail of baggage, then yes, they are being useful idiots for the kind of men Tate would advise his followers to become. And he only does it because it works.