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 -
You see evidence of Epstein running an underage prostitution Ponzi scheme, that the police were aware of it, and see them stand down when the federal prosecution gave him a slap on the wrist.
What do you do when you believe it was a conspiracy, vs when you believe it was incompetence?
Conspiracy: Do nothing, because if they have the power to let Epstein run rampant, surely you stand no chance.
Incompetence: You demand competence. You watch the Netflix documentary (no coverup here) and you look at your local politics to see if they're mishandling any cases similarly.
Weird, I don't seem to remember non-conspiracists "demanding competence" when Epstein got his slap on the wrist, I seem to remember them yelling "conspiracy theorist!" at anyone demanding the matter be investigated further.
Same thing with Epstein's supposed suicide, or the court redacting information in Maxwell's trial.
Was this the first time he was bagged, though, or the second?
Does 'investigate the matter further' mean trying to find the next dropped ball or chasing ghosts?
Ok that one might be a real hit.
The first time. And how could it be described as "chasing ghosts" if we know the police and prosecution had evidence of what he did?
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