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 -
It doesn't make sense to you that ideological assassinations would get more resources than a gang shooting or a homeless guy turning up full of holes? We're talking cold blooded murder of one dude walking down a street here. I understand your feeling to an extent, but the nature of this crime is very different from the average murder among the lower classes. Usually there is some provocation and a lack of evidence for the latter. The former was premeditated, in cold blood, between two well-to-do higher class people who were strangers to one another (Mangione went hundreds of miles and must have spent a long time planning this), and a lot scarier.
Bob Lee getting killed in San Francisco last year got a lot less buzz, didn't it? I'm not sure why, but I would suggest that even though it was similar to this case with two well-to-do people being involved, in that case, it was not premeditated, it seemed to be over some personal dispute, and perhaps the perpetrator being an immigrant with a criminal history also had something to do with it. Edit: for a while it was suspected that a homeless person did it, which would also make leftists not want to celebrate such a thing (makes homeless look bad).
If the target was different, would your opinion be changed? Would this level of resources be appropriate for someone who shot Trump, or the man who shot Shinzo Abe?
Wasn't the Bob Lee murder about the alleged suspects sister sexual assault at the hands of a Bob Lee drug / sex party acquaintence / friend, allegedly?
I really am still not clear, after reading about it to post. But because it wasn't an ideological assassination, apparently reddit and other social medias didn't see fit to look very positively on it, other than general smirking that a billionaire died. That's my guess, anyway.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link