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 -
Kansas City is over 25% black - for comparison, San Diego is less than 6% - and has a very significant black crime problem. Tulsa is only 15% black - so, again, still nearly three times as black as San Diego - and also has higher rates of both violent crime and property crime. Moving to either city would not be an upgrade in any of the QOL issues I’m concerned with, with the possible exception of housing costs.
As far as I’m concerned, the central sociopolitical conflict in America is between white and black. The other racial groups in the country are, at best, big players in the centuries-long psychodrama that has always existed between whites and blacks here, since long before the United States was a country. As I’ve explicated many times in this community, I believe that if blacks were to peacefully separate, both politically and geographically from whites, America could pretty much deal with the remaining non-white groups without too much issue. The removal of blacks from the political picture would also almost necessarily mean the dismantling of the Civil Rights Commission infrastructure and the resulting racial spoils system; without any strong pragmatic incentives to define themselves as separate from whiteness, non-whites in this country would, I believe, assimilate quite effectively in time, assuming immigration numbers can be swiftly brought under control and a restoration of the once-default expectations around the cultural/political hegemony of European-descended people is achieved.
I do not seek the creation of a purely-white ethnostate on American soil, both because it would be impossible to achieve, and because it would be unnecessary and would exclude and alienate a great deal of valuable human capital. The situation in Europe is quite different, and I would like to see European states remain >80% white for the foreseeable future.
More options
Context Copy link