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 -
I'll be the first in line to tell you that CPI is fake and gay, but if you have receipts let's do a little audit...
National Gas prices are $3.478 as of today, though I should note that my state has gas prices of about $3.70 by AAA numbers and I paid $3.29 at the grocery store this morning, so your mileage may vary.
Target Brand Boneless and Skinless Chicken Breast is $2.99 at my local Target; though I suppose price may vary somewhat by region so I checked and it is also $2.99 in Brooklyn. Here is frozen, which is a little pricier online at a little over $3 a pound, which surprises me as I normally figure frozen is cheaper per pound.
As for the "hardwood 2x4x12" I'm not quite sure what to price that at. What hardwood are we talking about exactly? I've never in my life bought a maple or cherry or oak 2x4 longer than 6ft, since I'd be using it for furniture or cabinets. Prime Fir 2x4x12, the typical item for framing and construction, is a whopping $7.07 at Lowes, less than half the price it was at its peak a couple years back. I will note that for rarer woods (I recently needed some Cedar for window sills), the problem isn't so much price as availability, I have to waste time calling around until I find someone who has something that maybe might work. And the quality at a lot of lumber yards has gone down, I'm rejecting more boards than I used to, and finding clear 1x6 is tougher than it used to be. But the price jumps have mostly come down to normal on commodity lumber that most people use for construction and home improvement.
It almost seems like the inflation you're talking about was, in fact...transitory?
Now Romex wire prices are still destructively high, to the point where they lock up the wire at Home Depot and I have to spend twenty minutes finding an employee with the key. Which points to the one area where inflation is still destructively high in my area: wages. Starting salaries at local big box stores and warehouses have doubled, and they aren't coming down fast. Construction companies are reduced to putting up billboards for labor jobs. Even union manufacturers, once a tough ticket to get, are advertising job fairs.
But even the classic cigar smoking mustache twirling capitalist can't possibly sit here and complain that the price of semi-skilled labor is too high and that's a national tragedy.
Unless you're living in Alaska or whatever and prices are uber weird there, I'm going to have to contest your claim that inflation on Chicken, Gasoline, and staple construction lumber has been >10% in the past year.
More options
Context Copy link