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 -
Also tagging @HughCaulk.
I agree with you. I'm not advocating for deportations because of race animus. I'm advocating for 1) deportations of illegal immigrants AND 2) a massive overhaul of labor laws.
Here's is my big post on that point
I don't buy the idea that natural born Americans "just don't want to work" - I believe that combination of the welfare state and labor laws actively prevent them from easily getting basic level jobs. The only way for these basic level jobs (exactly the ones you listed) to get done is to illegally employ foreigners. To be blunt; we have outlawed cheap labor in this country, so the only way to hire cheap labor is to do it illegally one way or another. Who is going to have an easier time accepting and illegal job; someone who is already violating US law or someone who is not?
It would be perfectly legal to pay your workers less than illegals are making on a roofing crew. This isn’t 2005. People willing to work for low wages just don’t exist in America. Increasingly, Americans won’t do physically difficult low status work at all.
This is a major problem with post scarcity societies like the modern west. Somebody has to nail shingles and dig ditches and slaughter animals and pick produce. But you have to be willing to let people starve if they don’t. People without scarcity won’t do that. People are perfectly willing to buy strangers a hot dog outside of seven eleven. ‘Literally starve to death’ isn’t a realistic bad outcome in a society where food is a trivial expense to people.
Well, the solution is to make the work well paid, and high status. Let Hollywood make flood of movies about brave and manly construction workers and vegetable pickers.
Yes, Soviet efforts to do this completely failed, but Hollywood is Hollywood. If you can make cool and prestigious as hard, dirty and dangerous profession as cow herder, you can do anything.
More options
Context Copy link
Agree with all of your points.
In this case, I'm going to defer to you as your post history (assuming a stranger on the internet isn't lying!) does demonstrate a more consistent exposure to these realities.
Well, then capitalist solution is to raise the wages. There is no problem in finding oil workers, no matter how remote is North Dakota and how dirty and dangerous work it is.
Quoting a quote is fucking stupid, retard.
Banned for one week. You seem to be on an unfavorable trajectory.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
Oil work is high status(in the circles the workers come from) because of the pay. Obviously, you can’t do that with every socially necessary but unpleasant job- you’d just wind up at universal basic six figures and then paying very well no longer makes working on a rig high status.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link