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 -
Propaganda associates Trump with powerful threats and interests. So Trump comes to represent the thing which most compels a person to be passionately opinionated. We can call these “plots” and different episodes air to different audiences. In Pennsylvania, Obama will call Trump a “generational billionaire” who wouldn’t know how to fix a car. On MSNBC, Trump is criticized precisely for his semblance to the populace of White Pennsylvania — he’s the “hillbilly billionaire” or the spokesman for the racist white crass majority or whatever. In one case he’s a populist and will say whatever the majority wants, in another case he’s a threat to democracy itself and ignores the will of the people. In one case he’s someone alienated from everyday interests of Americans, in another case he watches too much TV and likes McDonald’s too much and was a reality tv star who likes porn stars and telling tall tales. Politics is consequence-oriented, so if something works it will used. Telling different cohorts what makes them most impassioned works, so they do this.
For the “threat to democracy” plot, I there’s a few things going on. (1) It helps to recruit boomer undecideds in key states, because caring about democracy portrays Dems as saviors of American tradition; (2) it makes Dems the clear moral victor, because democracy has connotations of importance in America — people want to be the good guys; (3) Trump being the threat is essential, because Dems represent him as the cause of middle class grievances and an economic oppressor — you don’t want your “leader” to be the archetype of every bad personality trait and financial issue.
More options
Context Copy link