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professorgerm

clutching my imitation pearls

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joined 2022 September 12 12:41:49 UTC 

				
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professorgerm


								
								
									
								
								

								

								
								
								

								
							
					
 
				


				
clutching my imitation pearls

				
				
				

				

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					joined 2022 September 12 12:41:49 UTC
				


				
					

					
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User ID: 1157


					
					
					
				

			


					

						
					



		

	

 











			
			

			
			

			




	


		

			
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				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I mean, yes?




Maybe it's my failure of imagination but my experience with criminals is that they are not dissuaded by brochures. I find it hard to swallow that there's much overlap between "people that think women are second-class citizens, think rape of an unconscious person is acceptable, etc" and "people that are convinced to not do something because of a finger-wagging brochure." I just- I won't say strictly impossible, it's probably not a true null set, but there's probably not many people going "oh I was gonna go rape that 12 year old, but this brochure telling me that's not nice convinced me not to."




do you think all non-Europeans are just animals that can't understand words?




Now that is an impressive lack of charity!


I do rather doubt that English is their first language, for the relevant population at hand. I also doubt that potential rapists are dissuaded by polite pamphlets when there's probably no consequences anyways.


Scott's famous pieces like Radicalizing the Romanceless and Untitled come to mind. The kind of person that needs to be told this and hasn't already learned it is not the kind of person that's going to change their mind by reading.




How do you propose to teach someone the rules of a society - should we strap them down Clockwork Orange-style?




IIRC Denmark requires migrants to attend language and culture classes to receive any benefits, but doesn't strap them down.


Deporting anyone that refuses to attend the class seems like a fine standard, but since the UK won't even deport rapists if they can avoid it, it's a lost cause.




It's a bit late for that though.




Second best time to plant a tree and all that. They could at least stop accepting more, but that's apparently too difficult too.




Or just chemically castrate them as a prerequisite for asylum?




Reasonable punishment for the rapists among them, at least. But alas, someone decided they have a right to recidivate instead.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Charity is not a suicide pact.




this could be an attempt to acknowledge the reality of imperfect enforcement from the word go so as not to come across as all bark and no bite later.




Well, yes, we know there's minimal enforcement.




a way to head off reasoning of the form




you have far too high an opinion of rapists.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
There are many times in life that Doing Something that are so egregiously tone-deaf and counter-productive that they are more likely to make the problem worse. By producing this booklet, the government has almost certainly reduced the rate of assault 0%, but generated even more outrage about the problem and opposition to immigration. It would be too-clever-by-half for fiction; as it is, it's just sad.


Do you really think any rapist has had their mind changed by a brochure? How about one from a completely different culture? I note that the only examples of the brochure publicized are in English. Did some pathological progressive say it would be too racist to distribute them in meaningful languages?


I'm reminded of, during COVID, British Columbia producing propaganda encouraging LGBT+ people (well, we really know which letter, but still) to use gloryholes to avoid face-to-face contact and reduce the spread of COVID. This ran concurrent to advice that people not host holiday parties or visit their dying relatives. Or, like, 90% of similar "harm reduction" ideas. Or the XKCD about voting machines, from back when it was funny.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


If the concept of "asylum" is coherent at all




Indeed, it isn't!




but it's not the booklet that's at fault.




A booklet bears no responsibility. It is a booklet.


The government that produced the useless booklet is also the government that let in culturally-incompatible rapists that, assuming they can even read the booklet, will not waste their time. The government has failed fifteen ways to Sunday and is so deep in the Oedipus Trap that they'll produce a booklet instead of doing anything even remotely theoretically effective.


Edit: oh god i just noticed the examples posted online of the booklet are in English. What an absolute fucking joke.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I don't know how you have access to the Western internet enough to watch porn but not get Western attitudes on this.




Those are pretty siloed parts of the internet, though. You're not forced to read a collection of Dworkin before accessing the infamous Hub; you're not going to just absorb Westernism by vibe if you already have a culture installed in your brain.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


That's the whole reason people cross the channel.




The UK government will outbid natives to buy migrants free houses.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I am not religious but I believe every person is equal and that we must treat each other as such.




Humanism is functionally a religion, and this is functionally a religious belief. That does not invalidate it; far from it. But I think it's better to recognize what are statements of faith as such.


People have a hard time separating "moral worth" from... not exactly "economic worth," but something like that, that complicates their analysis of "equal in humanity" and "equal in literally everything that has value in modern society." I think liberal-progressives are especially bad at separating those and that's why they overcompensate so hard.


Your boyfriend, RIP, sounds like a lovely person, and as a carrier of the spark of humanity, the Imago Dei if you don't mind the religious terminology, has the same moral worth as anyone else. Trying to make him, say, a Cambridge professor or an astrophysicist would not have served anyone well.


But what does one do with that, at the population level? How does a multiethnic, multicultural society wrestle with "some groups are going to be overrepresented in some things, and underrepresented in others," and the downstream effects thereof? I don't know. I don't know of a good answer there, I just know the "hundreds of bonus points for college admissions and hiring decisions" answer is a bad one.




cleverness a tendency to manipulate. These are not inherently superior traits, and often are perceived badly by people outside of the modern West.




I would disagree with this last one, that cleverness meaning a tendency to manipulate is at its lowest in the modern West. Or was in the Golden Age/Cold War period, and ticked up substantially post-2000ish. Corruption and fraud are much higher basically everywhere else.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 17, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


that the number of articles and focus on him was pretty excessive.




Who defines "excessive"? Epstein is convenient but it would be more interesting to compare either a different "DEI suicide" like Mike Adams (much lower profile school, provocative but not a fraud) or a different kind of academic fraud like Dan Ariely or Francisca Gino. I'd imagine Ariely/Gino also generated hundreds of articles, but maybe not in quite such a concentrated period.


But off the top of my head no example captures a proper parallel, because a proper parallel doesn't exist, can't exist; there's too much intersectionality to the situation. Mike Adams is the Tony Timpa to Arday's Floyd moment. A huge swathe of modern Western culture is optimized to pay attention to that intersection; that focus remains for good and ill.




Normal people plan for self defense as a potential and necessary option, but they do not day dream about the shedding of blood.




Normal people don't become journalists.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I hope that never happens, and I would be disturbed and disgusted if it did




You will be disturbed and disgusted thousands of times a year, then.




it is not the goal of the law




If the rule brought you to this...


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


they were factually wrong




Lying. They were lying. Ralph Northam, everyone that defended him, et cetera and so forth, all lying.




These two positions are not internally contradictory.




Hypocrisy is not the only offense in the world, and it's unenforceable against people who do not share one's own moral precepts.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


There is no insinuation that anyone involved would be happy about a D&E.




Would you extend this much charity to a crowd you weren't already sympathetic to?


The insinuation is that they just don't care. They cheered at the signing of the bill. I do not feel the need to see them cheer at the actual D&E.




They also don’t really connect to suicide or organ donor laws on the left.




Is there a word for this "you are not allowed to draw revealed conclusions to the left" thing?


Reminds me a little of the "I'm not for open borders; I just vehemently oppose all enforcement and refuse to describe any enforcement I'd find tolerable" attitude.


EDIT:




They also don’t really connect to suicide or organ donor laws on the left.




"Life is meaningless at the beginning, it's meaningless at the end, and we won't help you figure out what it's supposed to mean in between" is a helluva philosophy.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
well i didn't mean you did the gerrymandering, it's fun trivia! Sparked an interesting conversation and lots of thought.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


People look at this and think it's fine, actually.




I saw the other day about Muhammad being the "top boy name" in England and Wales for the third straight year, and I thought- I can't wrap my head around people that don't have a reaction to that. I don't expect everyone to have my reaction to it, but to react with a shrug like it's completely banal?




I'm just a bit burnt out seeing it all shrugged off by interlocutors having completely different values.




Amen. The refusal of people to acknowledge alien values exist and are increasingly common continues to be a major blind spot.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


And why the hell wouldn't we include those if we're speaking about medically assisted suicide?




Very different things that sometimes fall under one label, at the end of the day. But it is a bit of gerrymandering to create an interesting stat, I'd agree.




In all 3 countries the rate is rising quickly




Depends on perspective. The Netherlands took 30 years for it to reach 5ish% of deaths, Canada took less than 10.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Hosting a conference isn’t missionary work. They’re not shirking a duty to their flock or their fellow man by hosting it in Portland or wherever.




Extraordinary.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
we used to have a defense attorney, even! surely he wasn't the only lawyer.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
i'm sure there's some lawyers around that might see a big juicy steak if they could get slightly more solid evidence than that too


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Personality is an important component of attractiveness, especially in the case of someone that wears (or appears to wear) their personality so openly on their face.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


liberals don't have to preemptively condemn communists before they can air their views.




Cretins like Hasan Piker get glowing NYT profiles, even. They don't just not have to condemn them, it's apparently a benefit to be associated with evil leftists.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 10, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Florida




They tried but the bigger effort was enjoined as violating free speech. I guess New College is still trying but... ehh?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of August 3, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


things that LLMs are just plain terrible at (e.g. fiction, image generation)




Fiction is middling at best but LLMs (or adjacent technologies) are now pretty great at image generation. perhaps a bit narrow but the six-fingered hand is a thing of the past, and text is more or less solved on top models.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


I recently purchased a huge number of rare, old, or first edition books at auction. I don't intend to physically read any of the copies, they have a totemic value to me.




Exciting, anything particularly fun?


I am going to take this opportunity to brag about the 1st (London) edition of Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia I found at an estate sale for the princely sum of $1. Buried under a stack of James Patterson and John Grisham, priced at the standard hardback rate. The cover was clumsily repaired using a baseball stitch as some point, but to me that adds to the charm if not the value. Possibly owned by a state representative back in the day. If it were the private press French edition I'd have to sell it, but this one I can enjoy having in my collection.




In a sense, a book like that, a dead novel that hasn't been read in decades, has been given new and eternal life, becoming a mote within the great consciousness. Couldn't a turn of phrase or a piece of advice from an 80s airport novel become, by whatever occult means within the system, revived and returned to the discourse?




Beautifully put.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					
Yet- growth mindset!


I share @jkf 's annoyance with a couple of the recent bans. Fine, they weren't great posts and I get the motivation of the "no boo outgroup" rule, but i dislike the side effect of incentivizing main thread submissions to be A Manifesto.


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


boo outgroup




So the rule isn't just "No boo outgroup," it's "no news posts that are plausibly boo outgroup"? Does every top-level post have to be some sort of manifesto?


				

				

						

							

								
							

						


						
					

				
			


			
			
			
				

			
		

	






		

			
			
				Culture War Roundup for the week of July 27, 2026
			
		

	

	

	

		
			

			

				

			

		

			


				

					


Your misrepresentation




The left could, ya know, just not play this abhorrent word games to cover up for racism, too, and they wouldn't be "misrepresented" (that is, interpreted entirely correctly but in ways they don't like, so on go the word games).