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 -
Libertarians have surprised me as of late with how pragmatic and Leninist they have become. Not the whole of them, but enough of them that they are able to parlay their small stature into a significant political force, which is pretty new.
Getting Trump to show up at the convention, nay, to actually make some symbolic libertarian promises and generally appear sympathetic to their goals is a big deal.
The lolbert faction is still there, which is how Oliver is even the nominee, but from what I understand of the internal politics it's had to rally around a bunch of interest to get this, which may ultimately have just been the secret agenda of the Mises Leninists all along (what with splitting the Democrat vote to get a sympathetic Republican in).
I wonder if this will last, but it may have an outsized effect. A small but well organized LP could do a lot to sway Trump's hypothetical bureaucratic purges in a libertarian direction.
What does "leninist" mean in this context?
The term is a reference to Rothbard and his study of the tactics of the most successful revolutionary of all time.
In this context it means someone who maintains a pragmatic centrism in tactics as opposed to sectarians on one side and opportunists on the other. Someone who like Lenin is willing to embrace flexibility in service of their ultimate cause, which for Rothbard is of course the abolition of the State, without compromising the goal for short term gains or ideological purity.
It means someone who, like Lenin is committed to victory, not process. To ends rather than means. Something very much opposed to what the LP has been for a while.
This to me at least is an uncommon usage of "Leninism". Other spheres use "Leninism" to describe the process of lifting up a cohort of lesser qualified/politically irrelevant people to power as a mechanism of ensuring loyalty. See also "Bioleninism".
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link