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 -
My argument is not a moral argument, it is a practical argument. Did you not read that I said I would acquit?
It wasn't worth it. He accomplished nothing of value and severely damaged his own life. He even damaged his tribe by stepping into the villain role that the blues laid out for him, the same way J6 protesters did (Yarvin is completely right about this).
Of course the same argument applies to Foster, any reasonable reading of the facts utterly condemns him.
That doesn't mean Perry was in the right. They were two retards with guns on a collision course and it ended terribly and predictably.
We're all already in the villain role. His problem was that he stepped into enemy territory, started fighting, then gave up and was captured.
The people of Austin should have started cheering for the death of a thug terrorizing their city. But they did not. They booed. Yet he stopped shooting, while he was still surrounded by hostile enemies.
The J6 picnickers' mistake was not attempting to visit the Capitol without getting shot. Their mistake was showing up empty-handed.
In your brief time on this board, you’ve picked up a wide variety of warnings and bans. The common thread? You’re clearly more interested in waging the culture war than understanding it.
Please take your outrage somewhere else.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link