Archive for the ‘Culture Wars’ Category

Culture war – RationalWiki

Trump supporters are a grim reminder that millions of voters view the government as a hammer that can be wielded to smash opposing values or groups and force their beliefs on others. Educating the electorate about libertarian ideas misses the fact that they have no real incentive to learn; most dont care about the relationship between man and state and likely never will, as long as the state continues to provide the stability they have come to expect. Jason Farrell[1]

In the United States and Canada, "culture wars" (or, occasionally Kulturkampf,[2] lit. "culture struggle") is the term used to refer to the political discourse surrounding issues that are ostensibly rooted in tightly held values, but generally excluding issues that are informed by values associated with business, commerce, and the accumulation of wealth and power. Although the issues of the culture war are guided by emotionally charged values, some may still have significant economic impact.

The term became popular in reference to U.S. politics after Patrick Buchanan made it the theme of his speech in the 1992 Republican convention, although the endless debates over social issues of secularization vs. religious conservatism go back much earlier in the U.S. For example, the German word Kulturkampf dates from the late 1800s.

Most of these battles are over things like gay rights, abortion, feminism, pornography, the sexual revolution, drugs, multiculturalism, the role of religion in American society, school prayer, and the teaching of evolution. Other battles come and go depending on what moral panic is currently in vogue. These debates have been going on for decades long before Pat Buchanan popularized the current term for them. During the 1960s and 1970s the culture wars were often framed as a "generation gap" between rebellious youth and their more conventional parents and included debates over long hair, rock music, conscription, and the hippie movement. During the early 20th century it took the form of endless debates over alcohol prohibition, fundamentalism versus modernism in religion, a perceived threat to American cultural hegemony from Roman Catholic immigrants, Bolsheviks, and labor radicals, birth control, Germanophobia during World War I, and the old standby, evolution, which seems to be a constant.

Social issues associated with the culture war are often employed by those who are not actually vested in the culture war those who hold the pursuit of wealth and power as their primary value. They use the culture war as a means to get people to act against their own economic self-interest and to distract voters' attention. An example would be a candidate who opposes raising the minimum wage, but instead emphasizes race or immigration issues to court the support of minimum wage workers, who may feel strongly about those issues. Another example would be a candidate who wants to raise taxes. She may avoid discussing higher taxes and instead talk about gun rights or freedom of religion in order to gain support from those who may otherwise oppose the candidate's position on raising taxes. The reciprocal is also the case those whose causes are part of the culture war may recruit support from power-players to form a symbiotic relationship.

Most political observers will tell you they are sick of these wars, yet they will never give up their own side.

The truth is that the culture wars threaten every individual's ideals at the deepest levels, making them intensely personal. Even though the wars are often just over symbols, they strike so deep that we feel the need to respond, in a way pocketbook issues just can't. Furthermore, despite frivolous issues like the War on Christmas being lumped onto the broad label of culture wars some fronts are literally a matter of life and death for the people involved.

Also, the idea of there being separate political spheres for economic and cultural political conflict tends to result from the limited perceptions of members of more privileged groups. For example, when considering issues such as the receipt of spousal benefits by same-sex couples, the economic and social aspects are intertwined indivisibly, as these issues concern the disparate economic statuses held by members of different social demographics. Indeed, these intersections between economic, social, and cultural issues are why the term "socioeconomic" has seen widespread use by political commentators and policymakers.

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Culture war - RationalWiki

Culture Wars

Monday 30 December 2013

Despite attempts by the centre-left to rebrand British values towards those held by what would eventually be described as the metropolitan elite, part of Britain yearned for old certainties, while a number of men relished the clear-cut masculinity displayed in nostalgia for the Second World War, and novels about the SAS (one wonders if that was true for some women, too).

It takes courage to ask different questions, or accept that evidence may lead us into new paths and new ways of thinking. Times Anvil is a book that offers important insights into the processes that have shaped the history of England, and the processes that shape our own approach to the past.

Sunday 29 December 2013

As the varied and sometimes disturbing contents of this selection hints, there was more to Klees work than met the eye. He didnt simply want to be some kind of amusing illustrator. Rather, he envisaged his work to be a reflection of transcendence and we can see him almost striving to get beyond the outward and visible to the inward the essence of existence in his Static-Dynamic Gradation (1923) and Steps (1929).

Saturday 28 December 2013

Unapologetic contains a fascinating prcis of the story of that Hamlet-like figure Christ, and perhaps a less interesting apologia concerning the conservative politics of the Christian church, but it is Spuffords examination of mercy that is key, since it opens up the philosophical area relating to truth, human values, and our sense of the infinite.

Perhaps the only lesson we can draw from the differing ideals summoned-up in these portraits - and the conflict which would destroy or change those ideals - is that neither presumption nor despair have a place in historical expectation. Human beings - either singly or socially - cannot exist without beliefs, and hopes for their fulfilment, but as to their outcomes; at the risk of suggesting a clich, they must expect only the unexpected. But then, it is the best clichs that are true - usually.

Looking at whats on offer here, its easy to side with those who felt that, at the Momart fire - when, in 2004, a number of famous YBA works were destroyed by a conflagration whilst in storage - those artists got what they deserved for producing meretricious, attention-seeking work with which they could fool the public and make a lot of money whilst doing so. But the option of a simplistic put-down - attractive though it may be - is to be resisted in favour of a deeper analysis

Saturday 21 December 2013

All fans of a sport are able to appreciate incredible athletic feats or truly classy displays of sportsmanship. Simply put, sports have a way of bringing people together. In a day in age when settling cultural differences is of utmost importance, turning more towards sports is a reasonably viable way to bring the world closer together.

1980s New Romantic clubbing was notoriously hierarchical: would you let yourself in, dear? was the question every clubber feared as he or she awaited admittance, at the whim of a mirror-wielding club host, to their chosen place of pleasure.

One thing, probably not intended by Webb, stands out from examining whats on offer: the way in which fashion had, by the eighties, succumbed to what some might see as Modernisms two defining principles; sod the public, and will this go down well with my peers?.

Thursday 19 December 2013

Scenes that should feel dangerous come across as funny or even harmless. This isnt to take away from Hiddleston. He is a hugely talented actor, who can imprison the audience with just one confessional glace. But I never felt him roar. This is largely down to the still atmosphere that engulfs Coriolanus.

Monday 16 December 2013

Eli (Rebecca Benson, in a mature and beautifully balanced performance), the vampire girl who is central to our blood-red romance, hovers between reality and fantasy. She looks fairly normal but sounds weirdly airy. It is as if her voice has no heat in it. She has an elastic way of moving shimmering up and scaling climbing frames and trees - that gives her a feral and magical quality.

Saturday 14 December 2013

There is a modest beauty to this classy production that forces us to take Richard seriously. This allows Tennant to push his interpretation as far as it will go and make his Richard as silly and petty and small as he dares.

Thursday 5 December 2013

If Im being generous, I could say its charming that these shops agreed to take part. But it is also rather odd to be paraded around shops throughout the production, just at the height of the Christmas shopping season. Commercialism and theatricality nestle side by side in an uncomfortable fashion.

Theres a vague weariness that clings to this show. It feels like Grandage is falling back on his greatest tricks so as to avoid offending this new, larger and richer, audience. Christopher Orams set encapsulates this elegant poise, which is just a whisker away from stagnancy. The

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Culture Wars

WorldViews: A twerking video has prompted a national debate in Russia and an official inquiry

MOSCOW As culture wars over Russias moral core ratchet up, the country is descending into a national debate and official inquiry over twerking.

It all started with an innocent well, okay, maybe not so innocent videoof a dance performance in the Russian city of Orenburg, whichrests along the unofficial dividing line between European and Asiatic Russia.

The video shows a troupe of girls from the local dance school Credo dressed in orange-and-black striped leotards, bootie-shaking with the sort of gusto and synchronization that would put Miley Cyrus to shame, as a person dressed in a Russian version of Winnie the Pooh costume looks on.

The performers were supposed to be lithe little bees, thumping and fluttering around Winnie the Poohs honeypot.

But was it also a political statement, since they were wearing the orange-and-black striped colors of St. George which has become a symbol of Russian patriotism and especially, President Vladimir Putins United Russia party?

No matter. The video went up on YouTube on Sunday Russian Orthodox Easter garnered nearly 4 million hits, and has now sparked an inquiry by Russias federal Investigative Committee into, among other things, "depraved acts."

The jokes since the videos release have been endless and the incident has even inspired political jabs.

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny scoffed on Twitter that the video was a thorough undermining of our ties that bind poking fun at how Putin famously worried in 2012 that Russian society is experiencing a clear shortage of spiritual ties that bind. The influence of the church in official moral regulation appears to have only increased since then.

Pavel Astakhov, the Kremlins ombudsman for childrens rights, called the video vulgar and insulting.

The Investigative Committee is concerned that the girls in the video are younger than 18. According to Russian tabloid news outlet Life News, the head of the dance studio said neither the children in the video nor their parents knew it was being posted online.

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WorldViews: A twerking video has prompted a national debate in Russia and an official inquiry

Far Cry 4 Gameplay PC (Ultra/NVIDIA GTX 760) – Amita’s path | Part 9 Culture Wars – Video


Far Cry 4 Gameplay PC (Ultra/NVIDIA GTX 760) - Amita #39;s path | Part 9 Culture Wars
Far Cry 4 is an action-adventure first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. Plot: The single-player campaign takes place in Kyrat, a fictional...

By: TheHeavyGamer GR

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Far Cry 4 Gameplay PC (Ultra/NVIDIA GTX 760) - Amita's path | Part 9 Culture Wars - Video

Far Cry 4 Walkthrough Part 111 – Culture Wars – Video


Far Cry 4 Walkthrough Part 111 - Culture Wars
I #39;m siding with Amita again, she seems like the right choice to go with. Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL09FRiMcHPXN97iicBsNR73S-rSogCuT If you enjoyed this feel free to...

By: Kermand0

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Far Cry 4 Walkthrough Part 111 - Culture Wars - Video