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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 29, 2023

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There is no such thing "reverse discrimination" to accept their behavior as anything other than "discrimination" full stop, is to grant the identitarians a victory that they do not deserve.

I've seen you post comments in opposition to idpol many times now but I'm still not sure what you believe. To me the argument that adopting idpol in the U.S. is tantamount to pressing the "defect" button in order to benefit at the expense of other groups who must coexist with you. So the logical response is for those other groups to start pushing "defect" themselves lest their lunches get eaten.

I'm not a fan o white nationalism and I think that "white" is a very incoherent, borderline-nonsensical concept in the U.S. But it seems like as a non-BIPOC person my long term choices are "do nothing and eventually pay reparations" or "start advocating for my racial group or coalition in order to counter enemy idpol tactics." I would prefer a third way. You seem to think there is one, so what is it?

I think the best answer is to reject the idea that these identities exist and get others to do the same. Identity politics are strengthened by people accepting the premise as most ideological constructs do. If you’re living in a country that’s based on religious ideals, playing in that sandbox makes it impossible to break out. If I accept that religion is real and should be a part of state government, then there’s no outside position. I might reject the ideas of Shariah, but if I’m rejecting them to implement the Talmud or Catholic Canons or something, we’ve already agreed on Theocracy, and the legitimacy of theocracy, we’re just arguing about the one on top.

You're not wrong but where I suspect that where we differ is that I do not see rationality as prerequisite for morality. Contrary to a lot of other users here, I do not think that having a good reason to press the defect button absolves one from the responsibility of having done so. Bad things happen to bad people. Bad things also happen to good people. So it goes.

Like in the old Matthew Brodrick movie, the wining move is not to play.

Like in the old Matthew Brodrick movie, the wining move is not to play.

As an even older saying goes, the game is rigged but it's the only game in town. Or perhaps you'd prefer the more recent "You may not be interested in the culture war, but the culture war is interested in you." "Not playing" is losing without a fight. Insisting that others who oppose the woke identitarians are wrong to play is giving aid and comfort to the woke identitiarians.