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Culture War Roundup for the week of February 19, 2024

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That's interesting. Anecdotally, I don't think I've ever heard a woman make such an argument around me, even though I live in a heavily politically "progressive" area. Not even the most fervent SJWs have done it around me. I wonder what kind of social circles you are moving in that you see so much of it.

Oh, I barely move in any social circles at all. This is all at work, which is a high school, and therefore maybe selects for people without much ambition . . .

In high schools, being tall with a deep voice is an actual advantage. I’m not sure about your area, but where I live, laws and courts have been gradually stripping away all tools for enforcing order in schools aside from primal force of personal presence, which most people generally don’t have, but it’s easy for women to suppose men have more of.

I also work at a school with over 90% women, but it’s a bit conservative, so they want more predictable, enforceable consequences for children who disrupt everyone else. But I think some people have been saddened to learn that more social workers and counselors haven’t actually solved all the problems of keeping order in schools.

Being imposing is absolutely a huge advantage when dealing with students in an anarchic environment. Even in Canada. But the complaints are never about that. They're about how some man got to go on (="he organized") a field trip, or how some guy rear-ended their car "but that would never happen to my husband" or whatever.

I've definitely heard a lot of it. "God give me the confidence of a mediocre white man" "What I could achieve if I were a white man" "It must be so easy being a white man" "I had to twice as much to get half as much recognition as I would get if I were a white man."

These are stock memes. It beggars belief that you've never heard anything like that, so I'd tend to suggest you weren't listening "right." You might have heard a more subtle variation than the rather extreme example in OP. Though I also tend to feel sometimes like I move in significantly less SJW heavy circles.

And of course I hear the inverse quite often. "I coulda been a contenda if only it hadn't been for [affirmative action/the Conspiracy/women/Jews]."

Neither Tribe has a monopoly on the external locus of control. It's a trait of identity politics, and one of the reasons I decry the rise of identity politics on the Right, it's ineffective.

Not just ineffective, but corrosive and distinctly Left-Wing/Rousseauean in nature.

I find myself wanting to ask them; are you not the Captain of your soul?.

The idea that identity politics are not effective is simply false. The dominant coalitions rely on identity politics and use it for the advantage of the groups that it comprises.

Part of what claims to be the right has embraced the refusal to do identity politics for its base, in fact to support cancel culture in that direction and tolerating and doing identity politics for progressive associated groups, so your proposal is simply repeating what has failed.

Beyond the issue of effectiveness, it is possible for others to be keeping you down, and it is actually good to oppose that. There is no reason to treat the same all complaints as some might be valid, and others invalid.

The truth is that even invalid blaming others and wanting more for your group at their expense can be effective though.

The problem with much of the current political establishment and this includes people who falsely claim to be on the right or center, is that they tolerate and support excessive rights for progressive stack groups, and don't respect the rights for the right wing groups like white christian men. This also relates to who they are demonizing and overly praising, and historical narratives.

At such it would be both effective and the moral path for the right, and center to sideline this authoritarian racist faction, which slanders and discriminates and favors the replacement of its base. To oppose anti-white and anti-male discrimination is good for society, and good also because it avoids an injustice at the particular groups and challenges directly the logic of the radical far left.

The idea that identity politics are not effective is simply false. The dominant coalitions rely on identity politics and use it for the advantage of the groups that it comprises.

For all of that alleged "dominance" what have they actually accomplished? What great works have been produced? Are the environments where the Identitarians hold sway happier, healthier, and more equanimous? Or are they more often than not complete (and occasionally literal) shit-shows?

What great works have been produced? Are the environments where the Identitarians hold sway happier, healthier, and more equanimous?

No, but that's not what "dominance" means. Kim Jong Un did not produce any great works, the environment where he holds sway is not happier, healthier, and more equanimous, but I don't know how you can describe him as anything other than "dominant" in North Korea.

No, but that's not what "dominance" means.

We're not debating the definition of "dominance" we're debating the definition of "effective", and in either case @Belisarius appears to disagree with you else it begs the question; "What's the point?"

For that, we have to go to one of your favorite writer's contemporaries, John Milton. "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven". And to the obvious rejoinder, it is worse than either to serve in Hell.

"Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven"

Is it though?

Sounds a lot like hubris to me. All men must serve, even a King. There are no rights nor privileges without responsibilities.

Is it though?

That's the "obvious rejoinder". But I don't claim the statement is true, only that those who seek dominance despite their dominance producing not great works but misery believe it; I'm comparing them to Satan after all.

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No. It's not. It's ineffective at delivering results. We can tell because identity politics projects fail, consistently, to deliver results.

It delivers the results its pushers care about. Hiring, university, and medical school preferences for favored groups. Impunity or at least reduced punishments for criminals of favored groups and prosecution for those who defend themselves against said criminals. Censorship of things favored groups wouldn't like. A falsified version of history glorifying those favored groups and demonizing unfavored groups, taught to all. And so on. It does not result in good government, racial harmony, scientific advancement, or economic uplift, but those things aren't what it's going for anyway.

So what you seem to be saying is that Democrats are the real racists. I'm glad we can finally agree on something.

I heard such arguments several times from women in STEM.