Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
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Notes -
Note that this weaponization works only in one direction. The oppressed masses get a complete pass to be violent (up to and including mass murder) and it's of for the left to be completely uncivil towards the deplorables. But if you dare to disagree with somebody who is higher than you on the oppression ladder, you are the worst criminal possible. It has nothing to do with civility, it's enforced power structure where the left usurps the right to designate who is going to be in power, and who is allowed to discuss questions of power. They just use the pretense of civility in an attempt to hide this blatant power grab.
I mean to be fair, this is how respectability has always worked. The point of having “polite” discourse” is that it entrenches the people with power. When it was the Catholic Church with all the power, “civility” meant that you didn’t publicly say anything against that version of Christianity. When it was King George III, being anti-Crown was uncivil.
I remember reading in the books that there were public religious disputes then. Maybe they were rigged, and maybe the outcome was sometimes pre-determined, and maybe the king could execute a debater if they said something the king didn't like... but still, it was a thing. Now talking to somebody with different point of view is "platforming" and is considered violent attack on vulnerable people. I think we've gone backwards in that regard.
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