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 -
Affirmative action in universities wasn't going to last.
The upper middle class/lower upper class stops being woke when it impacts them. Defunding the police is fun, but they still want rigorous security around their lower Manhattan office. Affirmative action gave too many seats to non whites making it harder for the children of the lower elite to get into college. The Asian problem will be fixed with an increased focus on sports, extra circulars and personality.
Regime stability is nearly always prioritized over ideology. Promoting a sizeable group of lower Iq people into the elite threatens the long term viability of the American empire. Harvard graduates are put in positions of power, and an increasing portion of the graduates were simply not meeting the standards. The issue is exacerbated by lower entrance standards necessitating lower educational standards during the degree. The result is mediocre people who have studied subjective topics and lack skill and knowledge. Now that we are reentering an era of great power competition, having the Pentagon staffed by people who didn't make it there based on merit is shooting oneself in the foot. The political radicalism of the affirmative action students was probably viewed as a positive a few years ago, as they were seen as committed to left-liberalism. Today, there is probably increasing concern that the radicalism has gotten to a point at which the loyalty of junior members of the elite is questionable. The state department can't be staffed by people who believe the US is a white supremacist state that needs to be destroyed.
The wealthier and whiter you were, especially if you lived in Manhattan, the more likely you were to vote for the far-left ‘defund the police’ candidate in the last New York City mayoral election.
In fact, the only reason that the moderate former cop Eric Adams won the election was because poor black and latino New Yorkers in the outer boroughs voted for him.
More options
Context Copy link
Or AA was the regime stabilizer. It would have been very awkward for elite institutions to remain vastly white while the rest of the country was supposed to be "reckoning with race".
EDIT: It also bought off the most enterprising black elites. Inside the tent, pissing out and all.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link