What happens if culture warriors make everyone hate the position they are fighting for by using really annoying methods?
People like Trump.
‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
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Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 describes a quasi-religious ritual in which all participants ritually affirm that they are unworthy sinners, racists. Why would being racist make someone an unworthy sinner? Racism is just treating others differently based on their race. It’s not weird or evil. In fact, it’s perfectly normal and even understandable. Humans have probably always separated themselves into groups. Even chimpanzees do it. I th…
Why would being racist make someone an unworthy sinner?
Because those who were enlightened before you now hold the power. They removed the scales from your eyes, so now the power structure has been set. All you need to do is obey.
Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
You should have seen the despicable "Go Home" vans that were circulating for a while. And the "hostile environment" that is legally mandated homelessness (people aren't allowed to rent privately, landlords have to check with .gov for "eligibility" to rent). All those "we lost the paperwork" people are subject to that. They would have lost their jobs, gradually had their banks close the accounts (with no alternative),…
> > How did “we lost the paperwork” turn into “well you look foreign so leave your country”? > You should have seen the despicable "Go Home" vans that were circulating for a while. How is losing the paperwork for legal migrants comparable or even closely related to telling illegal migrants to leave?
I think this was referring to the “well you look foreign so leave your country” part. The law is often… not right on these issues.
Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I had to "confess" that I'm racist and promise to do better or it would have consequences for my career. So, basically inquisitor wannabees and pseudoscience cultists. Your colleague dodged a bullet. The idea that claiming that you are racist makes you not racist is totally gaga, random, and based in magical thinking, not in science. It only helps to hide in plain sight the real racists making much easier to admit…
If you go around asking who the "real racists" are, you'll never find any. Turns out self-reporting is dubious.
Klansmen and neo-Nazis are perfectly happy to call themselves racists.
Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
Neil Postman wrote in 1985: “What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egotism." "Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley fe…
It's a great book, but that excerpt reflects a pretty shallow read of 1984. It doesn't account for this specific example, the use of outrage as an instrument of social control.
I think fear will always be a more powerful means of influence than desire:
"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
Although said by one of the Nazi leaders - I don't think it is any less true.
Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well that's the thing. These diversity training people do use a different definition of racism then what you are thinking of. The diversity training definition of racism doesn't simply mean prejudiced, it means a part of a system of power that benefits people considered "white" at the expense of others. By that definition, most white people are probably "racist". If you understand the context used when they call them…
Why didn't they use the term "privileged" then? I'm very happy to acknowledge my privilege, but I'd have to push back if someone was asking me to declare that I'm racist. I'm also happy to hear about times I was unintentionally so, but to lump me into the same boat as the people that were screaming in my face that I'm a race traitor for holding a black lives matter sign doesn't feel fair.
> Why didn't they use the term "privileged" then?
Because that word lacks any form of punch. Being "privileged" does not imply any personal responsibility; it's essentially saying you got lucky.
My understanding is that this tactic of taking very strong words like "racist" or "nazi" and superextending their definitions is just an attempt to harness the strong emotional response people have to these words and direct it at a very large group of people.
The unfortunate side effect is, that it slowly weakens the terminology, to the point where some day being a "racist" might just not be a big deal anymore.
The more direct danger of this strategy is that, in the short term, while most of the population still associates a term with a different definition, it allows quickly invoking very strong emotions with an accusation that is not technically wrong by the newer definition.
This becomes even more obvious when you look at how people often dance around these definitions to deliberately keep the newer definition as esoteric as possible, so the word retains its connotations for as long as possible.
Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you go around asking who the "real racists" are, you'll never find any. Turns out self-reporting is dubious.
If you declare everyone a racist then finding the actual racists becomes a much harder problem. Firstly, if everyone is a racist then the word racist loses meaning. So when you have an actual racist and say this person is racist, it's meaningless. Everyone is racist. Secondly, the amount of false positives will just be crazy high. How can this possibly ever work? I don't know what they think they are achieving?
>I don't know what they think they are achieving?
They don't think they're actually hunting down people who hate others based on race. They're self-consciously building class power that serves themselves as individuals and the material interests of their class.
Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
This is basically a Chinese struggle session.
lol the Chinese eventually pushed back against Maoism.
Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
This is terrifying, almost cult-like. The fact that this is what "fighting racism" looks like when forced hysterectomies are performed on undocumented immigrants in concentration camps show that it's not really about racism for the people that are doing this.
They are just conformists. PG wrote an excellent piece about conformism here: http://paulgraham.com/conformism.html
True progressives are out there fighting current battles. Corruption, bribery, current-day slavery etc. Conformists are out there marching about battles already won like gay rights, slavery in the United States etc.
Re: ‘Culture wars’ are fought by tiny minority – UK study
#220I 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…
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