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Culture War Roundup for the week of December 11, 2023

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Capitalist realism, indeed. When the money is flowing, the SJW/wokeness crowd get appeased because why not, there's so much dough sloshing around that playing pretend that this obvious guy in a dress is a real true woman, etc. doesn't lose us (much) money.

When the money gets tight, we see the difference. Suddenly all the DEI departments get thinned out or shut down. Disney is in the toils with flop after flop in a row lately. Luggage-stealing they/thems don't get replaced in the administration.

I think you believe this because of the people around you and the bubble you are in; but it just isn't true. Historically when money is tight, SJW's make even faster, harder, more permanent progress. Prosperity produces empty gestures because everybody can get by well enough, hardship produces actual clicks of the ratchet because people have enough potential energy to be actualized into political will.

But even if that doesn't happen, nothing ever happens for you. Even if nobody believes in DEI (which they don't because it's dumb); the gesture is all that is required. If DEI goes away, it will be replaced with something you hate equally because, again, you can't win permanent victories, just like you can't make water flow up hill.

You can expend cultural capital; you can burn that shit as fuel and pump that shit back up; but eventually water finds it's way to the sea.

Because we live under capitalist realism, because even with two (do I hear three!) wars going on right now, History has Ended. Nothing Ever Happens. If you want to actually see the changes you desire in your heart, you are going to need to take a risk; to smash the system just like I will to see the economic changes I want to see.

How will you smash the system? What economic changes do you want to see?

I won't smash the system, is the thing. It's not gonna happen until shit gets BAD bad.