site banner

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 19, 2022

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.

33
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Yes if the brochures had intentional lies then that would call it into question. But merely false information might not, since the false information could have simply been copied from MA website.

What doesn't make sense is why they are claiming they were told they were going to D.C. after being given pamphlets to Massachusetts. That sounds like somebody not getting their story straight of the kind that happens with lies, or when the truth is being twisted into a narrative. IF the brochure had a map of Martha's Vineyard, it doesn't add up to say that you weren't told about Martha's vineyard and thought you were going to D.C.

If I had to guess, this is informational warfare from team blue. Prima facie, if I give you a map and a plane ticket to Martha's vineyard and you sign a consent form, it seems ridiculous to claim that you thought you were going to DC. However it does make sense to me that DNC political operatives are repeatedly asking for and incentivizing such answers to their questions until they hear what they want. A kind of after-the-fact 3rd party Smolletting.

Just to add one of my usual tangential comments: for what it's worth, my first exposure to the existence of Martha's Vineyard was in X-Files, and it was where either Mulder or Scully's parents lived. Remember, those two characters live and work in D.C.. and they visited MV semi-frequently in the show. Now, my geographically-naive ass just assumed it really wasn't far from D.C., so perhaps a bunch of Venezuelans who've probably never really looked at a detailed map of the US might make a similar mistake.

What if I told you the brochures were only received after they had already boarded the flight?

Specifically, while on the plane, right before landing in Martha’s Vineyard, Defendants provided the individual Plaintiffs each with a shiny, red folder that included other official-looking materials, including: a brochure entitled “Massachusetts Refugee Benefits” and instructions for how to change an address with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a federal agency which oversees immigration, including USCIS Form AR-11, “Alien’s Change of Address Card.”

Here's what the order of events wasn't: DeSantis' agents gave the group of people physical documents about where they would be going and what services would be available when they got there and made sure this group of people understood what was in such documents.

Here's what did happen: DeSantis' agents made verbal promises to people about where they would be going (potentially giving different people different locations) and about what would be available when they got there. Then, after the people were on a plane and at their destination, gave them inaccurate information about where they were and what services would be available.

Prima facie, if I give you a map and a plane ticket to Martha's vineyard and you sign a consent form, it seems ridiculous to claim that you thought you were going to DC.

Lawsuit looks like a joke, but I doubt that these people were given tickets listing "MVY" for their chartered jet. Maybe don't attack straw.