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 -
Finland probably has one of the smallest Jewish communities anywhere in Europe. Which doesn't mean there aren't Jews of influence - but the most notable ones, former UN ambassador, Max Jakobson and MP Ben Zyskowicz - have been figures of the right, with Zyskowicz particularly having a reputation of being a right-wing stalwart within his party.
The closest the local antisemites have had to a "Barbara Spectre" is that many of them have theoretized that Aatos Erkko, the former longtime editor/owner of Finland's main newspaper and biggest domestic media concern, was partly Jewish from his English mother's side. However, I have never found actual proof of this - Aatos's mother's family tree does not have any indications of such, and Aatos seems to have mostly just inherited his father's liberal Anglophile political inclinations.
Like I've said before, Finland has had a socialist revolution, one of Western Europe's biggest and most influential Communist parties, a new-left movement advocating for sexual revolution etc, a robust domestic pornography industry etc. things that antisemites often blame solely or at least mainly for being a product of Jewish influence, yet with next to no Jews involved here. That would indicate these are really products of material and social trends, not some malign minority - if Jews have been involved in such sectors in other countries, it's more of a question of taking up places in an ecosystem where the same places would have been occupied by gentiles if there had not been Jews.
One notable thing is that occasionally the local discourses on the Finland-Swedish minority have greatly resembled the ways antisemites talk about Jews - something that has been noted not only by Finland-Swedes but also by far-righters. (Conservative cartoonist Kari Suomalainen who tended towards the far right at the end of his career caustically noted that "Finland has never had a particular need for antisemitism since we have Swedes to hate.")
More options
Context Copy link