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PaperclipPerfector  12d ago (text post)   32006 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of April 14, 2025

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Not a warning, but I'm seeing an increase in "I don't believe you really believe what you're saying/you are who you say you are" accusations lately, and it really poisons the discourse. Yes, we get trolls and sock puppets and some people may be pretending to be more principled than they are, but this forum is by its nature anonymous and no one is going to show you their Internet CV. Take people at face value if you choose to argue with them, or have a reason beyond "vibes" to accuse them of dissembling.

I'm not saying you might not be right, but this kind of purity testing and challenging someone's not-a-basic-bitch-lib bonafides is worse than either sincere engagement or choosing not to engage even if someone is being insincere. You cannot read anyone's mind.

I will note also (before @SteveAgain screams at me) that this is not a right wing or "anti woke" forum, even if that describes the majority of posters, and a leftist "Orange man bad" redditor is actually allowed to participate here, if they can follow the rules.

It's ok, I can take the L on this (or even a warning). I get that it's poisonous, but I can't help it, my heart is poisoned. I could do the "I disagree with you, but I assume you're sincere" thing when I first got here, but after everything that happened over the years it's hard to maintain that mindset. At least show some awareness of what happened and how it affected people, even if you think they're nuts.

But at the end of the day you're right, this way lies madness, and if there's a point worth making here, I'll have to find a way to distill it out of all that "you don't really believe what you say you do".

Lol, half the active posters here are nearly identical orange man bad redditors, they just all activate at once for a few weeks at a time whenever there's a new line to push, then disappear when the bratness stops working

I can extend enough charity to believe you actually believe this, but this is such an inaccurate description of reality I am tempted to give the Luke Skywalker TLJ quote.

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