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Culture War Roundup for the week of November 18, 2024

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This time, a German architecture prize was rescinded over the recipient signing a letter condemning Israel.

I wish someone could come up with a zinger viral label for an award, title or qualification that is contingent on holding the correct ideological opinions. Then all of the ones that are could be labelled and de-legitimised in the eyes of the larger public. Everything from the Oscars, to Nobel Prizes, to Hugo Awards. Even the College of Psychologists of Ontario (CPO) that sent Jordan Peterson to the Commissars for 're-education'.

Once these things are properly deemed farcical, it might be the first step in a course correction. Let people striving for these things know in black and white what their opinions must be in order to receive and keep them. Then maybe you'll get college students/neophytes going 'nah, I don't want to have to be a communist/environmentalist/progressive/ultra-conservative so I'll just pick a different career' so they don't have to deal with it. With the wellspring of aspirants in cut off, the awards risk becoming irrelevant and might feel pressure to change their ways.

Better yet they actually would become irrelevant and fade into obscurity.

DEI aka "Didn't Earn It"

For the first step of coining a term and pushing its use - I think one recent invention was by Tucker Carlson who, after being rebuked by the corporate team of Zyn, called them a “Pronoun Company” (even though trans was not at issue) and started his own competing product line. Pronoun Company might not gain traction but it is succinct and brings to mind a host of HR/DEI pathologies that infect organizations.

Should we ask Grok to coin some for awards ceremonies?