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 -
Assuming you're right handed, the part of the gun your left hand holds moves. You pull it back towards your body until it stops, then push it all the way forwards (it locks in this position). It's like pumping a Super Soaker (that isn't actually why they call guns that require you do this to cycle them "pump action", but it's close enough).
Unlike rifles and handguns, it's a really bad idea to store a shotgun with a round chambered because the most prolific shotgun designs have had no provision made to prevent them from firing if dropped.
So if you're storing this kind of shotgun safely, you thus have to get a round from the magazine into the chamber, so you have to cycle the action and in doing so make "the noise".
And "the noise" is made simply because there are a bunch of large loosely-fit parts that all move back and forth when you cycle the action- it's distinctive in a way chambering a round into a rifle or pistol is not (and movies/video games exaggerate it, too).
Gun culture 2.0 takes a dim view of this sort of "negotiation", but also kind of ignores the fact that if the potential adversary hasn't started shooting yet they probably don't intend to and that the cops (in the areas where this is a more valid strategy) are for most intents and purposes non-existent until a few hours after the fact (in a way that they aren't in denser suburbs and urban areas), hence the potential usefulness for a signal that armed security is present to deter the simpler kinds of mischief.
More options
Context Copy link