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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 4, 2024

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Things keep getting worse, people here keep coping, nobody seems to remember anything.

I do not believe I am "coping", and while my memory is not infallible, I think it's pretty good.

Everything happening today would have been considered an impossible joke even two years ago, and yet here we are.

I think my predictions from two years ago hold up pretty well, and am expecting them to hold up even better by this time next year.

What good did any of those discussions do except to ease us into accepting every new Current Thing as it happened?

Personally, I think it helped me gain an understanding of what is happening and why.

Personally, I think it helped me gain an understanding of what is happening and why.

To what end? Understanding what is happening and for what reason is only useful if you can actually do something about it. It does no good to understand the "whats and whys" of something unstoppable and unavoidable.

Understanding what is going on, understanding that the experts are not to be trusted, understanding that the elites are not the best and brightest, understanding that the authorities are not there to serve and protect you, can make very real difference in your personal life, even if you are alone or one among very few with such understanding.

Just one random example.

First, the current situation was neither unstoppable nor unavoidable. True, those things didn't happen, but that doesn't mean it was never possible.

Second, I don't think understanding is really ever useless. It can help you formulate a strategy for next time. It can help you to sway others to your point of view. If nothing else, people generally like closure and understanding can help provide that. Understanding has value even if it didn't help you to avoid an outcome you consider bad.