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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 20, 2025

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abortion example, the cold calculation is something like looking at the impact on the economy, birth rates, education

Aren't the majority of abortions in the USA to underclass women? Ye's claim there were more black babies aborted than born in NYC.

I've not heard an economic argument from the pro-abortion tribe.

I've not heard an economic argument from the pro-abortion tribe.

I don't think I've heard one from either side, but that's the point. The moral ground for either side is imovable and never addresses the other point.

I respect that many place importance on the morality of policy and laws on both the left and right, and I think that deontological rules are an important boundary for unchecked utilitarian thinking (which can go off the rails). But from my perspective, utilitarian thinking is mostly absent these days, in favour of emotional arguments that do not take into consideration the full range practical issues. Everyone seems very concerned about how wrong the other guy is, but not so interested in looking at why both sides are dreadfully unhappy with things. This is exacerbated by hot button issues like trans people, who are a minority minority, when there are huge day-to-day economic changes in the past 10 years.

I wish the government was more concerned with being a transparent public service that deals with things the private market tends to bungle, rather than invested in tit for tat status quo or promoting an idealistic agenda. To me this seems worse in the USA than my country, but it is present here too. And I don't think one side is better than the other in that regard, when so many of the messages are "the other guy did it first". Hold politicians accountable to being productive rather than performing.

Many of the arguments we get from motivated reasoning are poor. Often because they've been stitched together to carefully avoid falling outside the overton window or some electric thrid rail of their own tribe.

I would like to see the pro-abortion tribe argue for the economic benefits of limiting underclass reproduction. Making abortion more available to women whose children would be disruptive poor performers in school and be on the school to prison pipeline would likely be a net good. Arguing for it begins to look too eugenicist. The lefty pro-abortion tribe also tends to include people from racial constituencies that the argument would advocate for aborting.

I find it a better argument than whatever the current women's rights bodily autonomy argument is but I don't think they'd get the blue haired women out shouting that aborting black and brown babies is good for the country.

Many of the individuals or tribes have a tenuous grasp on rationality, rational arguments don't take hold.

It's difficult to argue / logic someone out of a position they did not logic themselves into. So much is vibes and feels.

It's just all so tiresome.

Which is your country?