Off-Topic and Low-Effort CW Thread for the Week of July 20, 2020OT/LE

submitted by rwkastenBring on the dancing horses from self.CultureWarRoundup

sorted by:
new (suggested)
topinsightfulfun
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]the_nybbler 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

This country is fucking lost. Over the past few days I've been told

1) There's no rioting in Portland.

2) The rioting in Portland is over a small area so it doesn't matter

3) The presence of the Federal Government caused the rioting in Portland.

4) Throwing rocks and (lit) fireworks at the Federal Courthouse is no big deal

5) Arrests are being made by "secret police" (link to video showing police in uniform make an arrest. Always the same one, too)

6) These arrests are "kidnapping". I might accept that coming from anarchist libertarians (to whom all arrests are kidnapping), but the people saying this are perfectly OK with other arrests; this is 100% tribal.

7) Federal agents arresting people for rioting is the kind of tyranny right-wingers have been warning of.

And this seems to be the consensus, the NPC/normie view. It's been a good run the last 240-some years (well, mostly), but it's over now.

[–]RobertLiguori 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I know this is the Time of Covid, but do you have the ability to take a weekend off, drive for like an hour out of any city you might be living adjacent to, and talk to some people in a friendly, low-pressure context? I ask because I hear similar sentiment across my Facebook feed, and that is disheartening, but I also am friends with some people who live a ways away from me, and when I visit them, I note, e.g., the still-proudly-displayed Confederate flags on display. It's a good reminder that many people are not only not Extremely Online, they're barely Online at all.

It might help your own calm if you can have some solid examples of people who aren't saying these things.

[–]simonp 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

If I had any people to talk to in person I would have already done that. What am I, just going to drive to some random small town in rural America, get out in the middle of the street, and accost strangers while demanding conversation? As if they don't hate city people enough already.

[–]RobertLiguori 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Well, I was thinking more in terms of a bar or other casual gathering, and also with the implied "practice normal social skills and only move beyond casual greetings if people seem friendly", but why not? Drive until there is something happening to serve as a pretext for conversation, get out, see what it is, and talk to people about it.