A Worsening Culture War • Hacker News Board

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#41

Post by zo1 » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:29 PM UTC

javert wrote: post #7

This is just another blame-the-rich piece without any evidence. I guess blaming the rich is very popular right now. The article is really interesting, so it's too bad he mars it with this kind of unproven, cruel and vitriolic thesis.

Not sure how you can say there isn't any evidence? The wealthy most certainly donate to political causes, campaigns and opinionated non-profits. It wouldn't be a stretch to argue that such money amplifies those entities' power, thus causing societal level problems with the amplified power of their wealth.

It's not 100% valid or exhaustive proof, but at the very least shows that it's a reasonable avenue of exploring rather than shutting it down and calling it "unproven, cruel and vitriolic".

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#42

Post by kanox » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:29 PM UTC

DarkWiiPlayer wrote: post #34

0xfaded wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would equally blame the stagnant and supine institutions on the other side of the Atlantic that obsess over preserving the status quo while providing no meaningful alternative to American leadership. Whether it's culture, innovation, finance, it's all the same. Europe has become reliant on America and will accept anything in the name of Diplomacy through Trade.

Excuse me? Germany tries buying gas from Russia and the USA sanctions the fuck out of companies that are even just marginally involved in it. As for innovation, that's relative. Europe, for centuries, was the undisputed worldwide leader in innovation, now that has shifted a bit to the USA and seems to be on its way to shift to China or maybe India in the next few decades. There's also the problem that Europe can't re…

> Germany tries buying gas from Russia and the USA sanctions the fuck out of companies that are even just marginally involved in it.

Good! Russia is an enemy.

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#43

Post by colordrops » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:29 PM UTC

porpoise wrote: post #14

The cause of culture war, as with all wars, is at bottom boredom, and the cure is to find intrinsically motivating pursuits that engage you so much that you look upon the culture warrior the same way you look upon those who spend all day playing videos games.

If there wasn't massive inequality and poverty to be tapped, bored energy wouldn't be so easily redirected to the culture war.

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#44

Post by claudeganon » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:30 PM UTC

eznzt wrote: post #15

Roritharr wrote: post #9

The craziest part of this american culture war, to me, is that it seems to spill over to the rest of the world. My sister and I, living in Germany, have a very loving relationship, but we absolutely disagree on almost everything political and basically are stuck in our seperate bubbles. This gave us an interesting observation: 5 years ago it took us about two to three months, to have a fight over something that start…

>The craziest part of this american culture war, to me, is that it seems to spill over to the rest of the world. It does not seem so crazy to me, after decades of cultural imperialism from America, that we are mirroring the same patterns of behaviour and fighting the same battles. (Just to be clear, I'm not against imperialism) If American politics are straining your relationship with your sister and you are not even…

> Just to be clear, I'm not against imperialism

As an aside - why? Imperialism seems like something one should obviously oppose. Who wants their lives governed by these forces?

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#45

Post by DarkWiiPlayer » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:30 PM UTC

porpoise wrote: post #14

The cause of culture war, as with all wars, is at bottom boredom, and the cure is to find intrinsically motivating pursuits that engage you so much that you look upon the culture warrior the same way you look upon those who spend all day playing videos games.

I spend the whole day playing video games and still look down on culture warriors.

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#46

Post by enriquto » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:30 PM UTC

Roritharr wrote: post #9

The craziest part of this american culture war, to me, is that it seems to spill over to the rest of the world. My sister and I, living in Germany, have a very loving relationship, but we absolutely disagree on almost everything political and basically are stuck in our seperate bubbles. This gave us an interesting observation: 5 years ago it took us about two to three months, to have a fight over something that start…

[flagged]

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#47

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#48

Post by Swizec » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

Roritharr wrote: post #9

The craziest part of this american culture war, to me, is that it seems to spill over to the rest of the world. My sister and I, living in Germany, have a very loving relationship, but we absolutely disagree on almost everything political and basically are stuck in our seperate bubbles. This gave us an interesting observation: 5 years ago it took us about two to three months, to have a fight over something that start…

When we were middle school kids in Slovenia we used to have huge fights and “gang” beef over east side vs west side. We had no idea they were geographical, we just picked a side based on which rapper you liked.

American culture is weird like that. We all consume it via mass media.

I think it’s just an empire thing. During Victorian times everyone was trying to be a little British, or a little French, maybe a little German. Depends who’s closest to you. A long time ago, everyone tried to be a little Roman.

Another way of putting it: News doesn’t tell you what to think, it tells you what to think about.

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#49

Post by colordrops » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

rossdavidh wrote: post #36

harryf wrote: post #12

The real question to me is whether FaceBook and Google are _deliberately_ complicit in creating devisive bubbles through recommendation systems or whether that’s just an unfortunate byproduct that’s unfixable? In Taiwan they have social media designed to reward agreement - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/27/taiwan-civic-h... - whether it’s truly successful or not I can’t say but if so, then Facebook and Go…

"Never ascribe to conspiracy, that which is adequately explained by incompetence."

Aphorisms such as these are loved by the think tanks orchestrating these conspiracies.

Re: A Worsening Culture War

#50

Post by refurb » Wed, Nov 25, 2020, 2:31 PM UTC

eznzt wrote: post #15

Roritharr wrote: post #9

The craziest part of this american culture war, to me, is that it seems to spill over to the rest of the world. My sister and I, living in Germany, have a very loving relationship, but we absolutely disagree on almost everything political and basically are stuck in our seperate bubbles. This gave us an interesting observation: 5 years ago it took us about two to three months, to have a fight over something that start…

>The craziest part of this american culture war, to me, is that it seems to spill over to the rest of the world. It does not seem so crazy to me, after decades of cultural imperialism from America, that we are mirroring the same patterns of behaviour and fighting the same battles. (Just to be clear, I'm not against imperialism) If American politics are straining your relationship with your sister and you are not even…

As a Canadian, I'm shocked at the attention the minutia of US politics gets in Canada. I was visiting family and watching the 6pm news and I'd say US politics dominates Canadian national news. It's not unusual for the first 20 min of a 30 min program to be nothing but US politics. Plenty of people say "well, what happens in the US is important to Canada", but what's covered is just stupid political bickering. And it's not even coverage from a Canadian perspective, just regurgitation of what's covered in the US.

Sure, when Trump says something about renegotiating NAFTA, yeah, cover that. When Trump says something stupid about the Democrats, no, that doesn't deserved prime time coverage in Canada. There are too many important things happening in Canada and the rest of the world for that to be front and center.

But I understand why they do it...ratings. Covering outrageous stories gets ratings. Generating outrage gets people to tune in tomorrow to see what happens next.