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Culture War Roundup for the week of October 2, 2023

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On reddit, the mantra was that the downvote was not an "I disagree" button. If that's not the case at the motte I sure would like to know that.

You can chant the mantra all you want, you're not going to stop people from using it as an "I disagree" button, and if that's how they're using it, that's what it is.

How so? To seethe means to get angry or become highly agitated.

For the same reason calling someone's ideas "retarded" would be a violation of the decorum, but calling them "immature" would not, even though they mean the same thing.

I am baffled by what you consider acceptable decorum. Do you believe Ozys essay meets the decorum standards of this community? Yet my use of seethe does not.

It would need some edits ("moral mutants" is past the line, I think), but the substance is fine.

If there is any kernel or value to be had in discussing it, then the discussion should proceed in a tone that inversely proportional to how inflammatory the subject is. This is a basic principle I think that allows highly charged topics to be discussed productively. I don't think Ozys or FC's posts meet that standard.

Well, I agree to an extent, and both of the posts we're discussing have their strengths and weaknesses re: productive discussion. Ozy's is better in the she elaborates on her views, explains where they come from, and why they are irreconcilable with conservative ones, the issue is mostly her tone. By contrast FC's tone is perfectly fine as far as I can tell, but elaborating on his views could soften the blow for any progressive skimming through The Motte. In his defense, he was responding to "Hanania is literally the only thing keeping me from falling back into white supremacy, someone please throw me a lifeline!". He did. I understand how the post might be a turn off as a stand alone one, but surely even a progressive could see the value in providing peaceful and non-racist alternatives to white supremacy?