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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 21, 2025

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Did the voters turn out for the school board election or state level representatives? Or did they just turn out for a single position and then got confused out of ignorance that there's more positions to vote for with their own different appointed powers, many of which are local?

One pattern that's come up with a particular strain of reactionary thought is that there is an ingrained helplessness (punctuated of course with an occasional going-off-meds incident) with regards to actually learn about the structural elements of governance. It's true at the local level and the national level and everywhere in between.

It is true that liberals have a natural advantage here in the sense of being active in politics as opposed to being based & grillpilled, but it's become so pronounced that it goes beyond merely believing that being active in political causes is cringe. It's gotten so bad you cannot even explain to some of these folks black-letter facts like (just for example) "if the federal government wants to condition grants on cities dropping sanctuary policies, there has to be specific language by congress creating the condition".

Specific groups, specific people. “Some of these folks” is not enough. Show us stats, show us prominent individuals telling people to opt out. If you can’t, consider whether the generalization you’re making actually holds up.

It’s been like a week since I reminded you that mocking one phrase is not a sufficient argument. Mocking zero phrases is not any better. One day ban this time.

It would help if we weren't constantly gaslit about the nature of what's happening.

For example, the relentless bait and switch around Title IX "interpretations". Obama's DOE famously published that "Dear Colleagues" letter, and all the colleges wrung their hands and went purposely insane under the premise that if they didn't, the DOE might withhold their funding. Trump's DOE rescinds that guidance, and those same colleges turn around and sue him in court. Biden's DOE does an even more expansive Title IX "interpretation" making it so there can be no local discretion in how the school system handles trans issues. You need to flee the country if you want to live in a school district that can't secretly trans your kid. The schools "begrudgingly" comply, none sue. Now many states sue, but the schools, suspiciously mum about it. Trump rolls in, rescinds the guidance, even forcefully reverses it, schools sue again.

It's a constant shell game. When a Democrat DOE is top down forcing local schools hand it's "Oh, elections have consequences, don't want this to happen vote harder next time." You win that game and suddenly the locus of control shifts to the local level "Oh, you have to win at the local level too, too bad, so sad". You can't win both in perpetuity, and somehow things never ratchet back in your direction no matter what you do.

The truth is, public schools, pedagogy, teacher training, the unions, etc have all been deeply captured institutions. It doesn't matter what battles you win against them, they are hostile to your interest, and will never comply. No matter where or how you win, they just gaslight you that the "real" battle was over here. In reality, they are just doing what they wanted to do the entire time, and coordinating with where ever they can to launder legitimacy on their immoral actions.