site banner
PaperclipPerfector  15d ago (text post)   2958 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 16, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

No. There will be plenty more “innocents” lost in this initiative. All roadblocks should be removed or run over.

His last name is Araujo. He isn’t American and he doesn’t belong here.

How is his name relevant?

We all know why. His name is as American as the name “Muhammad” is German or French - that is, not at all.

Your first post was low effort culture warring, but "We all know why" is piling consensus-building on top. No, we do not all "know why." We can certainly infer your meaning, but if you wanted to make an argument that anyone with a non-Anglo name is not American and has no right to be here, you should have actually made that argument, not simply asserted it with a "We all know."

Your record is a terrible one of randomly attacking the ethnic group of the day. Whether you are trolling or just a sincere and dedicated ethnonationalist who hates everyone and rotates between targets, you've accumulated half a dozen warnings, two tempbans, and a strong suspicion that you're just another shit-stirring alt.

Two week ban, probably permanent next time.

The idea that a Spanish surname might disqualify someone from being American is kinda funny when the Americas looked like this in 1800

The Germans and French are ethnic groups. Americans are not. You could argue that Araujo isn't Anglo-American, but then neither are African Americans and they've been there since the beginning too.

What are the bounds of American names? Is "Drumpf" an American name? Would Araujo "Americanizing" his name make him belong here?

So only pure Anglo-Saxons could be Americans? I am afraid that this ship sailed long ago (it was 1850's sailing ship that brought Irish, Germans and other European riffraff).

What is an American, in your book?

What is an American, in your book?

Legal category (comprising about 340M by now, about 4.1% of humanity).

If you have paper issued by proper authority following proper procedure that says you are an American, you are one.

Make it anything else, and you open door you really do not want to be opened (no matter how personally strong and tough you are and how many guns do you own).

No, those are citizens of the United States of America. USians (derogatory), not Americans.

Americans are a distinct people, a distinct ethnicity, and a coherent nation of people who share language and ancestry.

To ourselves and out posterity, and Araujo isn't included in that.

@grognard just got banned for this. Make your meaning clear and plain and do not appeal to an imaginary consensus. You are allowed to argue things like "Everyone with a Hispanic name should be deported," but you actually have to state your argument and make your case, not just handwave at it because you aren't willing to type out what you really mean.

"Asking grognard to explain and justify his belief of why Araujo is a name that doesn't belong in America" is not necessarily the same as "baiting grognard to be racist", unless, of course, grognard's justification really is racist.

Okay. I wasn't sure which way to read your comment, but nonetheless, a low effort "You know what he meant" isn't much better.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


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.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats