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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 27, 2024

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In the U.S. we generally view tick-tock as China spreading ideologies that weaken our nationalism (transgender, river to sea Hamas stuff).

I think it's important to note that "ideologies that weaken our nationalism" doesn't specify an inherent political direction, and seems to look more like amplifying scissor statements to make us mad at each other. I think the modal example looks less like high-level direction to allow trans athletes in women's sports, and more like observing that people have surprisingly strong feelings on the issue (fairness vs. inclusion) and constantly highlighting the issue in ways that maximize outrage on both sides.

In much the same vein, I thought a lot of the 2016 Russiagate coverage was inherently counterproductive. Sure, maybe the Russian intelligence apparatus wanted Trump to win to stoke discord in American politics, but from where I sit it looks like we devolved into political infighting almost more over the specter of such meddling than from the actual political actions themselves: The rumors and investigations of their involvement seem to me have been far more pernicious for American unity than any of the direct actions.