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‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

theguardian.com

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Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#41

Post by arethuza »

goatinaboat wrote: post #21
drran wrote: post #7

Almost any war is fought by a tiny minority, which is backed by large majority.

Almost any war is fought by a tiny minority, which is backed by large majority. While technically true, in a real war the “tiny minority” (the military) don’t choose when or where or why to fight, that is done by the “large majority”, the voters electing a government.

"don’t choose when or where or why to fight"

The UK has been in a number of wars since I've been able to vote - I don't recall being asked to vote on any one of them? Or indeed the wars in question being part of the manifesto for any party at any election?

Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#42

Post by zozbot234 »

cabraca wrote: post #34
rayiner wrote: post #4

I like the More in Common Project. But it overlooks the disproportionate representation of the extremists in our institutions. This happened at my alma matter earlier this year: https://freebeacon.com/campus/northwestern-law-administrator... . They also voted to abandon entrance exams at my magnet high school: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4979 It’s not comforting to know that only a tiny minority of people a…

I know those diversity sessions... They claim everyone who is white or passing as white is racist. I had to "confess" that i'm racist and promise to do better or it would have consequences for my career. Sidenote: I volunteer at a refugee center and took in a syrian family. Literally hitler, i know. A colleague got fired because he wouldn't confess and left the session. So even if that Dean said he is a racist, he's…

Is there any real proof that these diversity sessions actually help people work in diverse environments? The way you describe this, it reads like a really, really weird cargo cult where just confessing to one's supposed racism will somehow make you more open to people of differing backgrounds. How exactly does this help?

Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#43

Post by Broken_Hippo »

barry-cotter wrote: post #36
charlesu wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the first link, some administrators took part in an anti-racism training and in the second a school got rid of an entrance exam. What’s extreme about either of those things?

The first describes a quasi-religious ritual in which all participants ritually affirm that they are unworthy sinners, racists. Those who believe get the satisfaction of publicly proclaiming their sin, signaling their superiority over the outsiders. Those who don’t believe have their faces rubbed in the fact that other people have the power to make them lie in public about who they are and what they believe. It shows…

The first link is obviously against such training (as judged by links below): I can't tell the screenshot is what it is. I highly doubt the information.

The second is obviously an opinion piece as well: Being more inclusive isn't "ruining an institution" nor is changing things. It isn't like entrance exams are perfect.

Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#44

Post by secondcoming »

pjc50 wrote: post #5

Yes. The culture war is to a great extent a US import. The US is extremely polarised, possibly uniquely so for a country with a single national language and mostly-shared ethnic background (compare Belgium, which is highly polarised but along language lines). The UK has its own natural fragmentation lines (north/south, class system, four nations, catholic/protestant) but those are not the lines on which the culture w…

> The right-wing disinformation comes in via the press and various "client journalists" who repeat things they've heard from "Downing street sources" who they refuse to hold accountable.

What's also a US import is the division of people into 'right-wing' or 'left-wing' based on the most frivolous of attributes.

'Downing Street Sources' has been a phrase used by journalists for decades; everyone knows what it means. It's not a 'dog whistle' (another stupid imported phrase).

Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#45

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

cabraca wrote: post #34
rayiner wrote: post #4

I like the More in Common Project. But it overlooks the disproportionate representation of the extremists in our institutions. This happened at my alma matter earlier this year: https://freebeacon.com/campus/northwestern-law-administrator... . They also voted to abandon entrance exams at my magnet high school: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4979 It’s not comforting to know that only a tiny minority of people a…

I know those diversity sessions... They claim everyone who is white or passing as white is racist. I had to "confess" that i'm racist and promise to do better or it would have consequences for my career. Sidenote: I volunteer at a refugee center and took in a syrian family. Literally hitler, i know. A colleague got fired because he wouldn't confess and left the session. So even if that Dean said he is a racist, he's…

> So even if that Dean said he is a racist, he's probably not unless you warp the definition of racism.

Please elaborate on what you mean by "warp the definition of racism".

Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#46

Post by charlesu »

throwawaycltr wrote: post #20
rayiner wrote: post #4

I like the More in Common Project. But it overlooks the disproportionate representation of the extremists in our institutions. This happened at my alma matter earlier this year: https://freebeacon.com/campus/northwestern-law-administrator... . They also voted to abandon entrance exams at my magnet high school: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4979 It’s not comforting to know that only a tiny minority of people a…

I wasn't able to find the details about this course the faculty participated in but I wouldn't read too much into it. For some of these you must describe yourself as a racist and apologise for your evil. Suggesting that perhaps you're not that bad means it's even worse than we feared. I don't think someone who really was a "gatekeeper of white supremacy" would describe themselves that way.

Being racist isn’t the same as being evil. Just about everyone, to some extent, is racist. I don’t see how that’s an extreme claim. Humans are a social species. We have in-groups and out-groups. Often times the most salient marker for whether someone is in your group is whether they share certain phenotypes or language. There’s nothing weird about that. It’s expected. It’s our default setting. But it does lead to treating some people differently than others. That’s racism.

In racism training, you simply acknowledge that by being human, you are racist. You can’t cure it anymore than you can cure alcoholism. It’s always with you and if you care to not be racist, you have to be aware of that.

Why is that claim uncomfortable?

Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#47

Post by apatters »

QuesnayJr wrote: post #13
beaner wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fox news only exists as a balance to the left-lean of most other corporate media. And since it's existed, the others have felt free to embrace their partisanship more deeply. As a result, today, CNN is just as partisan as Fox.

I don't understand how someone can say this with a straight face. Whitewater was a New York Times created scandal. It was the New York Times that ran cover for the Bush administration in invading Iraq. It was the New York Times that a week before the 2016 election ran dueling stories that played up the Clinton e-mail story and simultaneously absolved Trump of any links to Russia. All of these stories got widespread m…

If you genuinely believe the mainstream US media doesn't lean left, have a look at the Media Bias Chart: https://www.adfontesmedia.com/

The methodology is thorough and non-partisan (that's the point). Note that the triangle's apex is literally left of center.

Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#48

Post by bonoboTP »

cabraca wrote: post #34
rayiner wrote: post #4

I like the More in Common Project. But it overlooks the disproportionate representation of the extremists in our institutions. This happened at my alma matter earlier this year: https://freebeacon.com/campus/northwestern-law-administrator... . They also voted to abandon entrance exams at my magnet high school: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4979 It’s not comforting to know that only a tiny minority of people a…

I know those diversity sessions... They claim everyone who is white or passing as white is racist. I had to "confess" that i'm racist and promise to do better or it would have consequences for my career. Sidenote: I volunteer at a refugee center and took in a syrian family. Literally hitler, i know. A colleague got fired because he wouldn't confess and left the session. So even if that Dean said he is a racist, he's…

Even worse. If these high ranking people are so afraid for their careers that they will say these things even if they don't believe them then the few people who do believe it are indeed quite powerful.

Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#49

Post by donohoe »

barry-cotter wrote: post #36
charlesu wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the first link, some administrators took part in an anti-racism training and in the second a school got rid of an entrance exam. What’s extreme about either of those things?

The first describes a quasi-religious ritual in which all participants ritually affirm that they are unworthy sinners, racists. Those who believe get the satisfaction of publicly proclaiming their sin, signaling their superiority over the outsiders. Those who don’t believe have their faces rubbed in the fact that other people have the power to make them lie in public about who they are and what they believe. It shows…

Thats an over-reaction.

The first is not religious in any sense. It appears to be an acknowledgment of the bias's we all have as humans. We all have bias's, unconscious and conscious - its part of being human. In that sense we're all 'racist' to some degree and its important to acknowledge that so as to overcome it.

As far as the second example cited I think more information is missing before jumping to a conclusion.

Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study

#50

Post by Qwertious »

zozbot234 wrote: post #22
vidarh wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The proportion in the UK who are any kind of Marxist is vanishingly small. The extremist pushing "culture wars" do like to argue it's about "Marxist ideology", but what they paint as Marxist rarely has anything whatsoever to do with Marxism. EDIT: It's fascinating to see the votes on this change without anyone even trying to make an argument to justify the claim it has to do with Marxism. I'd love to see one of those…

Jeremy Corbyn has praised Karl Marx as "a great economist", FWIW.

Well, Marx was a big contributor to our view of economics. He sure as hell hasn't been obscure - he basically founded Marxian economics (not to be confused with Marxist politics).

He had some pretty sharp ideas about the problems in his contemporary economic system that are still relevant today, even if he dropped the ball on predicting the best solution.

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