speaking of cultural sensitivity
I just saw a friend on Birdland retweet some Woke Young Thing calmly informing the world that it is no longer acceptable to play devil's advocate for ideologies she doesn't like.
Fuck. No. I am not going to terminate my intellectual processes because you assure me something is already on your mental blacklist. I escaped from goddamned fundamentalism by having a series of nice chats with The Devil. It's a healthy way of maintaining my immunity to 1-track minds.
speaking of cultural sensitivity
I just don't think there is anything to be lost by representing our opponents in all their nuance... their often horrible, often ignorant, often violent nuance, and that requires being honest on those occasions they're NOT acting like our stereotypes.
I'm still on your side. But I'm officially very nervous about how disinterested some leftists are in hearing things that contradict their view of the world. That's just fucking dangerous, and I won't support it.
speaking of cultural sensitivity
I just really itchy when I see people trying to win debates by declaring them inappropriate to have in the first place. And I get really, really itchy when I see my own side doing it.
Listen, I get it. Our enemies have been exploiting our faith in intersubjectivity and empathy. It's tempting to declare them Just Plain Evil And Bad as an immune response.
But this is Heroism 101: when your opponents cheat by exploiting your decency... never start cheating too.