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 -
Spitting facts! I, for one, endorse the idea that Yoruba are meaningfully different from Igbo, though this would be fantastically beside the point when the target is defined by her politics. It is not inconceivable for this to be mentioned. In the immortal words of Hakan Rotwrmt (RIP, even the archive):
On the other hand, the screed, for all its uninspired vitriol, conspicuously doesn't insult her or her people's intelligence. It's overwhelmingly dirt, pure racial antagonism, and some envy: troublemaker, liar, grifter, filthy, ugly, nigger, gorilla, smelly, poopy-head, monkey, parasite, go away, give us back our space, our air, we want your nice house with nice garden (at least no mention of her nice TV). Honestly this is something I'd expect an upper-class black person with an inflated self-esteem and limited self-awareness to attribute to anti-black racists – mostly projecting one's naive tribal hatred. Assuming she wrote this, Dr. Adeshola (Twitter verified) cannot conceive of herself as not being clever, even when trying to put herself in the shoes of her mortal enemy. And indeed, she is an Author, Lawyer, Political & Women's Rights Activist, Founder. Not even a completely unhinged murderous racist would think to call her stupid! On this matter, I see that while white liberals have veeery specific pained reactions to the IQ discourse, most blacks act refreshingly casual, as if they do not distinguish it from generic poop-on-your-head invectives.
...Alternatively, she is quite aware of this and other rhetorical deficiencies, but wouldn't like to publish anything online that reminds people (to wit, those oversensitive white liberals) of hate-facts and, especially on occasion of the hoax being exposed, would get her in real hot water.
On the gripping hand, this is so bad it almost looks like a second order hoax. We'd accuse Shola of doing a Jussie Smolliay, then Bobbies apprehend real National Action London. In 2 years will be revealed as a honeypot with 15/20 undercover agents, but that won't be known far outside Steve Sailer's feed – unlike the boy-who-cried wolf moral lesson that we should believe victims and not assume hoaxes.
More options
Context Copy link