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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   32319 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 17, 2023

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Yes it's the culture. The same country, comprised of the same people, and subject to the same material and economic constraints can be a dynamo under one regime's leadership and a complete basket-case under another's.

Ironically your dog example only reinforces my point, you really should have chosen a Pomeranian or a Yorkie because chihuahuas are hunting dogs. The material reality is that the difference between Paris Hilton's Purse Puppy and a Mexican Rat-Catcher is in the upbringing rather than the breed.

Chihuahuas are not meaningfully hunting dogs - they're tiny! A quick search will show this. They lack the physical qualities needed for hunting, it's not what they're for, not where their comparative advantage lies. That's why they're not routinely listed as hunting dogs. Catching rats is not what people mean by hunting.

South Africa worked relatively well when it was run by whites and works poorly now that it is run by blacks. That's not a cultural change, it's a change of who is in control. If it was a cultural change, what was the cultural change? If the cultural change that caused the deterioration is 'a popularization of the idea of letting blacks run the country' then what use is the concept?

Dachshunds are also tiny, and yet the name means "badger hound" and they were explicitly bred that way in order to get down in badger warrens and drag those ferocious pests out by the entrails.

Great - but chihuahuas were not bred for hunting, they were bred to be companion animals (or food). Everyone classifies it as a toy dog, or companion dog.

Yes! But my point was that it could become a hunting dog with less effort than you'd think (though it would take directed effort or a long-ass time and a lot of random luck) to get it there.

Chihuahuas are not meaningfully hunting dogs - they're tiny!

And yet they hunt.

Ah Hlynka, the next time a hunter advertises that they're looking for a hunting dog, you're welcome to show up and sell them on a chihuahua. After all, they hunt! What is a deer but a very large rat after all?

While I am tempted to point you towards @arjin_ferman's posts I am going to refrain, and instead point out that the concept of what constitutes a hunting dog is culturally constructed.

The obvious question being what are you hunting, and what are you looking for in a dog? Are you looking for an affable and kind companion who will fetch you the ducks you've shot? if so you're looking for some flavor of retriever. If you are looking for a dumb bitch who'll make a lot of noise and flush the prey out of the bush, you're looking for something like a basset hound or beagle. If you are looking for a vicious little bastard who will chase your prey down a narrow passage through wich you cannot follow than some breed of terrier or a chihuahua is your go to.

Accordingly, the obvious question that must be asked is what exactly do you think being "a hunting dog" entails beyond being a hunter?

Oh boy... have you considered that a nerdy doctor transhumanist getting into a pissing contest about hunting with a gun-toting redneck might not end well?

If I was in the States, you bet that I'll be packing. God made me a nerd, Samuel Colt made me equal.

If it's me with an AR-15 and my dogs versus Hlynka with his hunting chihuahua..

I'm sorry, are we talking about a pissing contest about hunting, or are we talking about an actual no-shit duel? Samuel Colt makes good guns, but he can't change the way god made you.

Samuel Colt makes good guns, but he can't change the way god made you.

He can change your entire topology.

I fail to see any pissing contest about hunting at all, given that Hlynka is claiming that Chihuahuas are hunting dogs, and I'm pointing out that for the purposes of hunting, they're pretty much the last on the list.

In a duel, I'll take my chances.

Multiple people have remarked on our very own Kulak's meteoric rise on Twitter, so he wrote a post about how he thinks he did it, and it boils down to "write politically charged things that are 100% true, but sound fake, and let people walk into rakes".

I'm not a hunter, much like yourself my background is that of an utter nerd. I do know when I'm walking into a trap though, and ex-military dude from rural America telling me "Chihuahuas are hunting dogs" and daring me to contradict him looks like a trap.

Here's another idea that might be more in line with your nerdy nature: have you considered asking ChatGPT "are Chihuahuas useful for hunting"?

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And yet they're not hunting dogs.

I'm still eager to hear what you think the culture change was in South Africa. Come on, be specific!

I'm still eager to hear what you think the culture change was in South Africa. Come on, be specific!

I'm far from an expert on this, but didn't the majority of post-colonial Africa succumb to CRTesque grievance politics?

What is a "Hunting Dog" if not a "Dog who Hunts"?

Control doesn’t imply culture. Just because the right decisions were made previously doesn’t mean culture engendered those decisions.

It sorta does. Will to power is a cultural variable.

No doubt they intersect somewhat but will to power is not the same as culture. I guess what I’m getting at is that you have two populations (A and B). Both populations could have similar cultures today and yesteryear but which culture is in charge can change leading to a different out come. So it wasn’t so much a change in culture but whose culture mattered.

Granted, changing whose culture matters probably affects each populations’s culture somewhat. But I still think who decides is more important than simply saying culture.

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