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 -
There's definitely multiple groups at play here.
You might well be right to make that bet; I don't know what the relative frequency is like. But there are sincere boycotters just like there are for Hobby Lobby or Nike. Our ridiculous level of prosperity means that most companies are selling commodities--a substitute is readily available. That can make it easy to switch to something else, and I think that keeps the number of hypocritical evangelists low.
Not understanding object level concerns is a separate issue. Tribalism is a powerful and convenient heuristic and really, what good does knowing Chick-fil-A trivia do...for anyone who isn't an activist? You only need to be ready to debate JKR's stance if you are trying to lead the charge. Otherwise, it's enough to follow your friend group.
JKR also happens to be a good example of how right-wing boycotts can look pretty different. It didn't take a Twitter hashtag to get Christian social groups denouncing her books. There is an industry of Christian reviewers and commentators who will tell you, in whatever level of detail you want, why a movie or book is un-Christian. I don't think the right is somehow more inclined to look things up. Easy heuristics are good enough for everybody.
See also Too Good To Check.
As a final note, I have never bothered to find an article that explains the problem with Chris Pratt beyond "he's into a culty church." But my sister was able to give a detailed summary of his comments about his autistic son to make it clear why she didn't like him. This was in the context of her choosing not to watch the Terminal List. So n = 1, at least some people are capable of committing to the bit.
More options
Context Copy link