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 -
Palestinians can also move to any country that will let them in. There aren't very many of those because, unlike the Germans, they have burned their bridges in every nearby Arab state.
Lol, okay, hope they are enjoying not accepting it and getting their shit kicked in.
It was under blockade because they literally started shooting rockets at Israel. If they hadn't elected a genocidal party and started a war with the preeminent military power in the region, gaza could have been the Singapore of the Levant at this point.
Why would they move to another country? Why would the rest of the world want an arabic refugee crisis. The best option is not to have millions of Arab refugees, the best option is for millions of Arabs to stay put.
The Algerians experienced that, now they have a free state.
Wonder why people who were shoved into a tiny open air prison while their country was cut in two and is continuously shrinking due to settlements don't fight back. If Israel hadn't been an expansionist aggresor they wouldn't have a rocket problem.
You tell me - you brought up Germans moving to modern day czechoslovakia.
Pacifying the algerians was not an existential issue for France. The existence of Hamas is an existential issue for Israel.
Daily reminder that:
gaza and the West Bank were not Israeli territory until the arabs started and lost the six day war
Israel occupied the entire Sinai and returned it to Egypt
Egypt did not want Gaza back
Jordan stripped West Bank residents of citizenship
it wasn't an open air prison until Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza and Hamas started to fire rockets at Israel
More options
Context Copy link
Losers of history get killed, that’s the way it’s always been and that’s the way it’s always going to be. Do you have a unique issue with this? Nothing that’s happened to the Palestinians hasn’t happened a thousand times to million different tribes through history.
No, we haven't exterminated every group that has lost a war. Estonians didn't have a country for a thousand years yet were not exterminated. Pretty much every group in Europe has lost wars and been the loser for some period. The norm hasn't been genocideing them. Your comment is funny as your jewish people have been the enternal losers throughout history. When people have gotten tired of the bad behaviour in the ghetto, your people has usually been thrown out rather than genocided.
Murdering 7 million Palestinians isn't acceptable, it would be a war crime of monumental proportions. We don't want 7 million refugees, so it is best if they stay put.
Yes, and now we’ve grown tired of bad behavior in the ghetto (Gaza), vastly worse than most of what Medieval Jews inflicted on Europeans (largely just reasonable interest rates on voluntary borrowing), so we’re kicking them out. What’s your problem?
The majority of the region that consists of MENA Arab Muslim homelands can accommodate them. If their own co-ethnic co-religionists refuse to accept them then that reflects rather poorly on their behavior.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link