Where does the culture war come from?

W

wild greens

Well-known member
No pun intended here but I am quite puzzled why the media and socials seem intent on pushing the trans debate down my throat over the last six months

It is the cause de jour on both sides of the debate at the moment. The modern day commentariat seem to have realised en massivr that it is such a divisive issue that it helps their publicity drive no end to find a position on it and talk about it incessantly. I am quite bored of these supposed topics- what was once the covid debate becomes the "woke" debate becomes the trans debate etc. Like most things in the culture war age people seem very happy to pick a side and go on and on about it forever, finding tiny minor moments in the world and amplifying them massively.

If we use this gaff as a microcosm of internet trends, people like Tea or Biscuits find the opportunity to talk endlessly in circles about any old shite- quite clearly following general consensus- and then you also have people who have specific bugbears like droid who seems to think we should all wear a mask forever, or DannyL who seems to be well into the trans thing for whatever reason

No offence- i am trying to be honest here, its right in front of us if you pay a passing interest in the board.

But these things are also massive on twitter and facebook and tiktok etc etc. Millions of people lurching from topic to topic, the Mail/Telegraph/Fox News/GB News, all synchronised on that side of the debate, your Guardian/Novara/whoever Americans listen to on the other. This is often led by big twitter accounts who can't fucking shut up

Where do these issues arise from- is there a marketing department in Republican/Tory circles who decides right lets talk about this now, are e.g. does someone like Peter Thiel or a Fox News editorial dept have a think tank on the go specifically trawling for big issues that everyone should jump on and shape the narrative?

I find this far more interesting than the debates themselves, which are quite formulaic really.

Why do the same people who wanted to talk about being anti-lockdown now find transvestites so fascinating? Why did BLM become such a bugbear, why are a million bots all synchronised in attacking strikes in the UK, union leaders etc. How do anti-covid people become so painfully aware of drag queens telling stories

Is there a way to trace back how these things become the talking points?

I think the trans one probably starts as a mainstream talking point with Casper Semenya or Fallon Fox, for example, but is it not worthwhile trying to understand who is making these things such "hot topics" and to what end? Musk's twitter "For You" quite clearly very active in this at the moment, maybe the clearest example yet of intentional manipulation in a digital age

It's so fucking boring
 
Clinamenic

Clinamenic

Binary & Tweed
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padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
wild greens said:
No pun intended here but I am quite puzzled why the media and socials seem intent on pushing the trans debate down my throat over the last six months


It's so fucking boring
Click to expand...
trying to restrain my anger here, because I think asking about the mechanics of how an issue rises to prominence in the self-curated, post-truth media environment is a good and reasonable question, even if I doubt anyone here has enough inside knowledge to give a real answer

but the rest of your post

I'll tell you why the "trans debate" is so prominent right now - it's because there's a massive and sustained assault against the right of trans people to exist. it is not theoretical. state legislators are out here passing new laws every week. the idea that is a "cause du jour" and we're all going to flip our signs over next month with a new slogan is both wildly wrong and deeply offensive.

and I'll tell you what I'm sick of: complaining about the huge imposition of having to scroll past some articles they're never going to read. oh, how terrible for you. so sorry that you're being forced to ignore a "debate" you clearly know nothing about and will make no effort to learn anything about.

I'll also tell you why BLM was a big deal: because Black people are sick of being murdered with impunity by police officers. there's no great mystery to it. it took multiple high-profile killings - Oscar Grant, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, LaQuan McDonald, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland - several of which set off urban uprisings, before things finally exploded after George Floyd was murdered.

and finally I'll tell you what's the most boring of all - some ignorant motherfucker with the wonderful privilege of not having their existence under assault talking about how boring it is to have to read to about people who do.
 
padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
tell us what's a legimitate, non-boring issue then?

since the struggles of trans and Black people to simply live their lives freely and be safe are by your standards boring

what qualifies as a legitimate, interesting issue in the world of @wild greens

I assume if lawmakers were regularly passing anti @wild greens legislation you'd find that to be a non-boring issue?
 
padraig (u.s.)

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
like, if people don't want to pay attention that's fine, I can't make them

but no one is forcing you to read any articles or links or threads you're not interested in

so the idea it's being "pushed down your throat" is preposterous

there a million threads here about any number of topics I don't care about, and far less important ones than struggles for basic rights

I just ignore them, like an adult. I'm not out here whining about how hard it is to have to not read them.

jesus fucking christ.
 
W

wild greens

Well-known member
I never said any of these issues were non-legitimate, nor am i trying to attack any marginalised body here. That's not the point

It's quite clear that the supposed culture war is something created largely by a loose right-wing media conglomerate for the most part and the sole intent of it is identifying divisive issues and talking them upto the point of exasperation

It is everywhere and it's the same thing every time. The supposed debate is always the same model ad nauseum.

What i am attempting to ask is why and where we have reached the current impasse, and why a huge amount of media is geared towards finding causes to vilify. There are clearly defined narratives and ideas being created en masse in unison. It is being shoved down your throat on purpose

It is really fucking boring.
 
sufi

sufi

lala
I'm curious about what happens when the CW entirely separates from technocratic politics and takes to the wing of it's own accord like an enormous shitbird, even the centrist are extremists so theres not really any space left for old school opinions
 
Leo

Leo

Well-known member
There are plenty of think tanks with a specific ideological bent and agenda. To further their agendas, they come up with issues and talking points. Then they develop op-ed articles on the topic, provide aligned politicians and supportive media outlets with the talking points. Then, as Sufi said, it takes off from there because wedge issues drive traffic on both side of the argument.

Not everything derives from this model, but a lot does.
 
W

wild greens

Well-known member
padraig (u.s.) said:
I'll tell you why the "trans debate" is so prominent right now - it's because there's a massive and sustained assault against the right of trans people to exist. it is not theoretical. state legislators are out here passing new laws every week. the idea that is a "cause du jour" and we're all going to flip our signs over next month with a new slogan is both wildly wrong and deeply offensive.
Click to expand...

I think this is an odd response but perhaps i am not making myself clear- the culture war is largely a right-wing construct generated in order to further political opinion, no? So the cause de jour is a real thing, and seemingly generated to further the agenda. You have co-ordinated attack lines throughout media channels (social and tradiitional) to generate support for a cause. I am asking why and how it happens

It is quite clearly a mass-synchronised effort
 
Leo

Leo

Well-known member
wild greens said:
I am asking why...it happens
Click to expand...
you've answered this yourself:

wild greens said:
the culture war is largely a right-wing construct generated in order to further political opinion, no? So the cause de jour is a real thing, and seemingly generated to further the agenda. You have co-ordinated attack lines throughout media channels (social and tradiitional) to generate support for a cause.
Click to expand...

and Sufi and I answered this

wild greens said:
I am asking...how it happens
Click to expand...

Guess I don't understand what's still left unanswered.
 
W

wild greens

Well-known member
Perhaps this is a pointless thread @Leo - you're probably right - but i have been quite puzzled about it the last few months. How and why the online narratives have suddenly become obsessed with an anti-trans viewpoint when it was barely even a point of discussion a couple of years back.

Where does it all come from and where does the co-ordination arise from, that's what I'm trying to get my head around I guess. Right wing pundits holding similar viewpoints is a given but these new attack models are effectively generating a moving consensus

This is an example from last year
www.logically.ai

#KeepPrisonsSingleSex: How Botnets Pushed a Hashtag to Westminster

A Logically investigation has found that the Gender Critical hashtag #KeepPrisonsSingleSex was amplified by botnet in coordinated inauthentic behavior.
www.logically.ai www.logically.ai

Where do the decisions to push these ideas come from is i guess what i am asking
 
W

wild greens

Well-known member
There is a lot of disinformation about that is effectively using the same avenues


Who invents this and how does it spread
 
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