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 -
But France can, and only France can, and thus it remains a form of European protectionism even if it privileges part of the EU over others.
'Everyone is under the same restriction that they can only use [brand recognition name] if you produce from my market' is simultaneously a 'same' requirement and not-same impact. Which is why 'same' requirements for all is a common form of contract corruption- you write requirements into a contract that you know only certain favored applicants will be able to reasonably meet, and thus you have the 'same requirements for everyone' and can dismiss accusations of systemic bias.
Not France, only Champagne can.
I dunno, think what you want about the regulation, I heard a few cases of it backfiring against those it was supposedly meant to protect, but I don't see it as fundamentally different from expecting other countries to respect trademark regulations. Or is it protectionism that China can't flood the US market with "Apple" products that were produced by companies who weren't authorized by Apple to do so?
More options
Context Copy link
Ok but the arrangement applies to non-EU foods too. Looking at the UK protected name list (which is largely carried over from the EU regs, which I can't find in such an easily accessible form), there are 771 protected names for American products and regions (almost exactly the same as the number of French protected names by the way) - why would anyone do this if it were pure protection? It's more a question of false advertising. If you call your whisky a bourbon or your sparkling wine a champagne it comes with obvious expectations. After all there is no barrier to the importation of the product, it's just a question of what you sell it as when it's here. Nobody is preventing anyone from selling American sparkling wine.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link