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 -
This is not even close to the same. First, he was term limited. Second, he was an insider whose father was CIA director, VP, and President. Third, he was never at risk of being prosecuted and he knew it.
He was in the club, and Trump wasn't, and isn't. There are no rules to a crooked gave, or at least none worth respecting.
I said before and will say again, Trump's original sin for which he cannot atone and will never be forgiven is that he's an outsider. He steamrolled through the Republican party and then bowled through the anoited Hillary in the general. He laid waste to the carefully curated options that were supposed to limit American choices in our elections.
His impeachment came well before 2021, and from day zero he was hounded by bogus claims and fabricated narratives. Trying to explain everything that happened before by what happened after is exactly backward. The lawfare was a continuation of everything from the Steele dossier, the Mueller report, and his first impeachment. It was nothing new in response to the 2020 election.
It also had nothing to do with NY passing a law to extend the statute of limitations to drag him into court and call him a rapist.
The insiders literally bragged about fortifying the election in the immediate aftermath, which helps explain the six million missing voters the Democrats lost from 2020 to 2024. The sheer arrogance still boggles the mind.
It's insider vs outsider, and now Trump is withholding benefits from those insiders and their organs, as is his right as executive. This is against the unwritten rules, but it's well within the written ones, and it'sthus far tame and bloodless. Nobody is in jail, nobody is being prosecuted, nobody is dying in the streets or falling off balconies (except Michael Hastings and Trevor Moore).
Finally, it's tyrants that we should be worried about. Dictators have always been necessary on occasion, and America has had its fair share of muscular Presidents.
More options
Context Copy link