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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 27, 2025

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that nobody should come for anyone

And if someone does, it behooves everyone else to stop them now, before they become entrenched, even if they're starting with people you don't like.

For the time being, residing in the kill or be killed world, I vastly prefer the left side of the equation.

And you are justified in defending yourself against individuals who are trying to harm you. What is not justified is going after people who share some characteristic with them but haven't done anything to harm anyone. Again, this applies to both left and right; the principle that states that the right having grievances against some people who happen to be gay does not justify them treating all gay people as disposable also states that the left having grievances against some people who happen to be white does not justify them treating all white people as disposable.

Friend, I was one of those who tried.

But yeah I have had the experience Steve mentioned (well, steps 1 and 2). Because IDK how "the left," which I was raised was "our side," managed to end up totally abandoning that principle, but my experience is that it really seems like it has.

For a while there I was able to say, "Hey! 'We on the left do not blacklist,' remember?" Then I started having to remind people what that was about (McCarthyism). Then they started in with "McCarthyism did it to us so we should do it to them now."

Working to establish such a principle is unilateral disarmament, it's suicidal, it's insane. It's insane to such an extent that any attempt to convince me to adopt this course of action, like that revolting "poem" counts as an attack by a hostile interest.

I do see your point (see my other comment) but I want to point out that that's not originally a "poem," it's originally Pastor Niemoller's description of his actual experiences with the Nazis. It's valuable information from another time.

Working to establish such a principle is unilateral disarmament

No, it's telling both sides not to pull the triggers if they aren't being fired upon.