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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   2360 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 9, 2025

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Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Well, I guess this place is called the Motte for a reason! What a massive change of tack. If we accept that the middle east is actually secretly tolerant of homosexuality, but uses its anti-gay laws merely as an instrument of authoritarian rule to arrest agitators, well okay then. But that still sounds just as much like something a liberal should oppose (regardless whether or not the country in question has pride parades).

But that still sounds just as much like something a liberal should oppose

Yes, but now the difference between liberals (who is not fine with using anti-X laws merely as an instrument of authoritarian rule to arrest agitators) and progressives (who do this constantly, that's why they really like anti-X laws) becomes extremely important.

What is this place?

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Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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