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 -
This can be seen as much a problem with democracy as it is a problem with the Palestinian people. Besides, Israeli democracy is going to have huge issues with the Haredim throwing around their demographic weight in a few decade's time, creating a few million more Israeli Arabs who are never going to vote for the same parties as the Haredim will delay their takeover for a generation at least by diluting the vote share of these people (Israels Proportional Representation system means extreme Arab votes counteract extreme Haredim votes when it comes to coalition building, ensuring moderates continue to hold the reins of power).
It's like killing two birds with one stone, you get to destroy the attackers self justification of being freedom fighters and brand them as being nothing more than the basest (note: not the same as basedest) violent criminals, denying them of a glorious death in battle with the enemy (which they and their families would happily take) and leaving them to rot in prison, and on the other hand you delay the demographic tsunami of your own ultra-orthodox elements overwhelming your system.
Fighting a government that gives you a vote doesn’t necessarily stop you from calling yourself a freedom fighter. Ireland’s vote for Sinn Féin in the 1918 UK General Election and the subsequent war it legitimized comes to mind.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link