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VoxelVexillologist

Multidimensional Radical Centrist

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joined 2022 September 04 18:24:54 UTC 

				
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VoxelVexillologist


								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
Multidimensional Radical Centrist

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 04 18:24:54 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 64


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I keep wanting to compare this to the recent ICE shooting, loathe as I am to discuss that more here.  In that case "the officer should not have put himself in potential danger (standing in front of the car) so that lethal force wouldn't have been necessary" seems a common talking point (and I'm not interested in debating the specific facts of the case further).  In the Uvalde case there seems to be plenty of ire that the officers did not place themselves in such danger regardless of the risk to the suspect, especially since it sounds like they were informed of a barricaded shooter, not a spree shooting.


Both sets of logic make sense to me in isolation, but I have trouble fully squaring them.  "It's good that the Uvalde cops say around: if they had charged in someone (the shooter) might have gotten hurt" is plausibly true, but laughable.  It somewhat works if you assume Good wasn't intent on ramming lots of pedestrians, but that isn't always true: there was a deliberate truck attack in New Orleans last year, for example.  That driver didn't have priors, and we'd plausibly be having a similar discussion if officers had blocked the car and ended up shooting the driver there, 14 lives would have conceivably been saved.


Obviously the details are quite different, but I have trouble imagining generic bright lines that don't lean heavily on verboten characteristics: "of course the white woman wasn't trying to be a spree killer."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
This seems more a human factors problem than a technical one: "within tolerance from install time" is probably fine from an engineering perspective: many complex systems manage by just painting alignment marks on bolts to spot movement.  That lazy technicians might just photocopy it is a QA issue: even if they had to write it, they could just rewrite the values without actually taking measurements.


Setting up systems like this is its own art.  There are plenty of watch clock systems to make sure your security guards actually patrol your facility and don't just nap at the desk and sign the forms.  Otherwise "establish a high trust culture" doesn't seem scalable, but maybe works in a few life-critical industries (airplane mechanics).  There are probably some modern computer-driven solutions (see electronic charts in medicine?), but even then those are pretty modern takes on a process they've been doing for decades.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
With such low ridership, the promised emissions reductions from mass transit are pretty questionable, no?  A city bus (<4mpg) with 5 riders is effectively 20 passenger-miles per gallon. A hybrid gets around 30mpg, even assuming a solo driver.  Even the average 2020 model exceeds 20mpg!  Maybe there are worthwhile access and congestion arguments otherwise, but it sounds like the Ft. Worth and Indianapolis buses may be a net emissions negative.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Is the stopping distance on a subway train such that an attentive human driver can stop it in time?  I know for freight trains stopping distance is measured in miles and it's a solid "no".  Access control seems like an easier investment for subways, but not a panacea for human stupidity.


I'd bet modern automotive-derived sensors could do nearly as well as human eyeballs watching the tracks ahead given some effort.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I have come around to this thinking: "My UBI isn't enough to afford rent and food" is an evergreen opinion article, and can paper over your gambling and drug habits pretty easily.  "I can't afford rent and food" in the current system (discrete section 8, SNAP) is a lot easier to counter with "you got $1000 for rent and $200 for food this month."


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Does this show the weakness of UBI or weakness of American administrative capacity? California can't do HSR but HSR is still possible.




For a slightly-slower speed of "high-speed", the privately-owned Brightline HSR in Florida opened a few years ago and connects Miami to Orlando.  American administrative capacity does suffer from analysis paralysis in general, but California is probably the worst offender in that regard, and things do "just get built" elsewhere sometimes.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Self-driving trains seem like an easier problem to solve than self-driving cars, especially for a metro system like D.C.’s.




They already exist in some locales, mostly outside the US.  IIRC Singapore has a fully-automated metro system.   But from what I understand, the unions (I've at least heard this about the NY metro several times) effectively prevent trying to implement these upgrades because a transit strike would cripple the city.  But driverless trains and platform screen doors are things that exist elsewhere, so they can be done.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
"We pretend to work, and they pretend to pay us".


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


California and Texas had Hispanics before they had Anglos.




This is one of those oft-repeated claims that is really tenuous at best: the number of Mexicans living in all of Texas (with drastically larger borders than the current state) in 1824 was under 8000, and likely much smaller than the number of Native Americans in the region at the time.  The Spanish (and then Mexican) claims on the region were pretty sparse to begin with, which is part of why they were so interested in importing settlers under their flag.  That the Anglos would eventually push for independence is a more complicated story (yes slavery, but also yes Mexican imperialism) for another post.


We don't talk about how Nebraska and Oklahoma were French before they were Anglo because despite being ceded in the Louisiana Purchase, actual French influence on the ground there was quite limited, unlike, say, New Orleans.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


why the US system doesn't feature an official leader of the opposition




Notionally, this would be the House and Senate minority leaders (or majority if they held the houses).  It's less-clear who "opposition" is than the UK system in some cases, though not at the moment since the House, Senate, and President are all red.


I don't have a good answer as for why they are being so quiet, though.  Obvious candidates are recent leadership turnovers, ongoing great political realignments and internal party schisms (who are the base we're representing anyway?), and letting the Republicans make a mess of things that's clearly their own fault.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
To clarify, IMO it would make more sense if (sub) domains were ordered like com.google.maps or gov.whitehouse.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The host/domain ordering has always struck me as backwards from pretty much everything else, like file system paths.  In fact, URLs are frequently https://specific.to.general/general/to/specific?veryspecific.  I wish I knew why they thought that made sense.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


It’s a civilization that have suffered utter defeat for 100 years, and then ruled by actual progressives who blame said defeat on their own culture and want to distance themselves from it for another 30 years, until they regain a bit of sanity. That’s about four or five generations.




Doesn't this roughly describe post-Meiji Japan too?  Somehow they punch well above their weight in global culture (sushi, anime, business).  (South) Korea arguably fits this narrative too, only with different imperial powers.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


The average Chinese boomer has way less power to enforce their will onto the general population.




How do you feel that balances with a much more explicit meme of filial piety versus the West?  How does the average "4-2-1" grandchild in China feel about their obligations to their elders?


Your point makes sense too, but I'm not sure how to balance them.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 19, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
OP's war on ad-supporter platforms presumably also hits GMail and all the free email hosting alternatives.  Honestly, it does worry me that those have piecemeal become load-bearing parts of the economy: I need it to reset the account password for my bank.


On the other hand, I'm not anxious to retvrn to the days of email addresses tying you to your ISP: "DSL now more expensive than the alternatives, but it's the email address I use for everything like my bank accounts." I'm not sure who else I'd want to host email (honestly: USPS? Not the greatest alternative), and I can't see masses of normies paying for Proton Mail or such.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Friday Fun Thread for January 16, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I feel like the culture war has gotten better in that we have figured out how to sort of deal with it, the superweapons have lost their effectiveness. The fanatics aren't always running the show, cooler heads are getting more attention. But its also gotten worse because it spread to the normies and out of academia and limited intellectual circles.




IMO, God-willing, we're just ahead of the curve here --- early adopters of the Culture War, if you will.  I think this is a generic narrative arc of an aggressive meme.  I'm not even quite sure how to define the current one (it's been difficult to name, even, but feels motivated by the existence of the Internet, among other forces), but there are past examples like "what if we decided we didn't have a king, but that we're defined by Frenchness?" or "what if we used this new printing press to openly question the moral authority of the Pope?".  Both of those took hold among the masses and caused decades of conflict (large hot wars, even), before a new lasting coexistence equilibrium was established.


I feel like I've seen some signs that we might have hit peak Culture War.  Flame wars aren't edgy anymore, they're almost passe in my IRL social circles.  We're re-learning the wisdom of not discussing politics or religion in polite company.  The CW ideas aren't new to most of the populace because they've been everywhere for years, and there are fewer newcomers to the memes to become radicalized torchbearers.  Maybe things are going to start cooling down.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Shakespeare didn’t write one hundred plays and then choose the best few dozen to publish.




Some writers, Stephen King comes to mind first, are famous for writing prolifically and then substantially editing down their products.  Although maybe not quite that ratio.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
IIRC humans can get theobromine poisoning, but the required dosages are such that it's a non-issue outside of small children and the elderly binging on chocolate.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Temperance




If you mean "temperance" as in "Women's Christian Temperance Union", I recall reading that Biden and Trump are both teetotalers, and that W. Bush stopped drinking before he ran for president.


Sadly, your conclusion about the other virtues seems well-founded.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I feel like one of the pitfalls of eugenics (then and now) is an assumption about what good genes even means (beyond Sydney Sweeney, apparently).  There seems to be a lot more agreement about bad genes:  see general consent on the borderline-eugenics of genetic counseling for various diseases, or the general acceptance of anti-incest rules.


You're probably right that Nazis lost out by dismissing a bunch of human capital and (over?)valuing blond hair and blue eyes, but I can't avoid thinking that statement is smuggling in some value judgements about what we should consider the ideal human form.  Sure, intelligence is generally valued, but I see a rather open-ended question about the relative merit of maximizing paperclips chess scores, baseball ability, or height that I'd personally prefer to defer answering.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I sometimes feel like we over-medicalize things in modern society: we want to defer "hard" ethical decisions to "experts", and doctors are some of our favorite experts.


I noticed this acutely when I was called for jury duty a while back (I was not selected), and voir dire included some questions about considering about applying a legal label ("sexually violent predator") that does have a very loosely defined medical component, and I could tell a tangible number of potential jurors really wanted to hide behind "what does a/the doctor think?" in terms of something the legislature, in it's great wisdom, deserved a jury trial rather than a medical panel.  Frankly, given the weight of the decision, I see why: there are plenty of horror stories of doctors involuntary committing people, and a jury seems a potentially-preferable way to evaluate such status.


There were also quite a few jurors that questioned their own fairness on the topic of heinous crimes.  I didn't get selected (the defense busted the panel, as it turned out), but am I weird in thinking that sometimes "fair" is, after carefully weighing the evidence of guilt, "throw the book at them"?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
The Rwandan genocide managed a comparable body count with mostly machetes.  It seems more a matter of whether the regime's forces (who I'm sure have enough small arms) are choosing to use lethal force, either as a top-down policy or more local spontaneous decisionmaking.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 11, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
I read this one recently: I liked it overall.  Without spoilers, I thought it interesting that the plot twist, to the extent there is one, struck me as very "of it's time" in how it reflects on the human condition, but in a way that I don't think could be written today because waves at culture war, nor would the conclusion be deemed quite as satisfactory in that light.  At the time, it was pretty well received by critics, too: an interesting display of shifting political winds.


I'd be curious to hear others' thoughts, though.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 11, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


is weak evidence towards that possibility,




My intuition is that "intelligence" actually has theoretical bounds we just haven't derived yet.  We haven't, IMO, defined what it is well enough to state this easily, but information theory broadly defines some adjacent bounds.  Also that real humans require orders of magnitude less training data --- how many books did Shakespeare read, and compare to your favorite LLM corpus --- which seems to mean something.


Also that at the scale of economics, "singularity" and "exponential growth" both look darn similar in the near-term, but almost all practical examples end up being the latter, not the former.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			

	


			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of January 5, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Whining about it strikes me as pathetic LARPing to some extent.




I'll give you to some extent, but non/semi-violent resistance as a strategy only works because the repression looks much worse in the public eye than the original resistance (see why American riot police don't use water cannons unlike plenty of other Western countries).  I'm not sure I fault political actors for trying to bring attention to such, but often it does feel like things are magnified hugely out of proportion ("Help, I'm being repressed!").  In this case someone died, and I'm not really inclined to call that "out of proportion" specifically, but I will point to the incentives here in that tangible repression was certainly being sought by at least some parties involved (the protest movement as a whole, for example).