site banner

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 14, 2022

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.

12
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Ah, I now see I'm rather sheltered. When you previously wrote that you lived off your crypto investments and jetted around the world as a photographer for beautiful girls, I did not connect the dots that you were speaking literally of producing CSAM. I somehow just assumed you were engaging in sex tourism. Doesn't make sense in retrospect, but here we are.

I guess I'm glad this forum allows civil conversations on even this sensitive of a topic, but this seems like the stuff that eventually gets sites booted off web hosting companies and domain registrars. It's one thing to talk admiringly of Hitler, but another to talk of partaking in highly illegal shit. This is too much internet for me for the day. Signing off.

CSAM

Sorry, but I don't speak nuspeak. ¿Habla inglés?

In any case, if I were to produce erotic (or maybe merely stimulating and exciting if that is necessary to avoid legal impropriety) content featuring gorgeous young ladies (or perhaps I was being facetious), it would be of the gentlest (in production anyway), most non-abusive, finest, and most (very cool and very) legal kind and widely featured on reputable, all legal catalogues of Internet Content™ like Instagram™, Patreon™, and VSCO™ (as so much similar content already is). Trust me folx. (Nor do I engage in "sex tourism"; I like purebred White Anglo lolimeat too much for that (and the Japanese aren't selling like the Cambodians do).)

That is, I think you may have memed yourself into a dream here. Or perhaps I memed you into it. I have not mentioned to you doing anything illegal at all in this area, much less "partaking in highly illegal shit", facetiously or not. (Masturbation (which is not facetious) is completely legal my friend.)

This confusion is what you might expect when you ask someone who you acknowledge wanting to remain "undoxxable" about their profession though. Who can say?

Fair enough. Straussian reading takes its tolls, and I overcorrected. I wish you the best in staying very legal and very cool.

The second is effortless. The first is a tactical decision. :) Thanks for your well wishes.

Straussian reading

Too much focus on the esoteric can obscure the exoteric. I am no Moldbug, no obscurantist; I do not intend to require a "Straussian reading". I mean what I say and say what I mean, when I mean to say what I mean and mean what I say (and so far here I do). (Though I admit that perhaps due to the uncommonality of some of my life circumstances, preferences, and beliefs, things may occasionally get lost in translation without any fault on either party's end.)