Episode 157: How the "Culture War" Label Is Used to Trivialize Life-and-Death Economic Issues by Citations Needed Podcast published on 2022-03-09T16:52:13Z "Let the Culture Wars Begin. Again," The New York Times announces. "How the ‘Culture War’ Could Break Democracy," warns Politico. "As The Culture Wars Shift, President Trump Struggles To Adapt," NPR tells us. "Will Democrats Go on the Offensive in the Culture Wars?" Vanity Fair wonders. Over and over, we’re reminded that so-called culture wars are being waged between a simplified Left and Right. Depending on who you ask, they tend to encompass issues under very broad categories: “LGBTQ rights,” “abortion,” “funding for the arts,” “policing,” “immigration,” “family values.” While there is some validity to the label of “culture war issue” – say, Republican opposition to an art installation, or tantrums over the gender of M&Ms – most of the time, the term is woefully misapplied. Despite what much of the media claims, LGBTQ rights, police violence, abortion, and so many other issues aren’t just “culture war” fluff in the same league as the latest Fox News meltdown about a cartoon character. Nor are they both-sides-able matters of debate. They’re matters of real, material consequence, often with life-and-death stakes. So why is it that these are placed under the “culture war” umbrella? And what are the dangers of characterizing them that way? On this episode, we discuss the vague nature of the term “culture war”; how this lack of clarity is weaponized to gloss over and minimize life-and-death issues like police violence and gender-affirming healthcare; and how the only consistent criterion for a “culture war” seems to be issues that impact someone other than the media’s default audience, i.e., a white professional-class man. Our guest is The Real News Network Editor-in-Chief Max Alvarez. Comment by supertemporal Its just courting the same fearful center right and fearful or apathetic center left that Democrats have been doing since they sold out Unions. 2022-04-29T16:05:22Z Comment by Mark Pawelek "Since 2015, 563 attempts to cancel scholars have occurred at U.S. universities. For context, the Hollywood Red Scare [McCarthyism?] targeted ~300 Americans. “Only” 51 people were prosecuted under the Alien & Sedition Acts". - Source: Greg Lukianoff 2022-03-29T18:28:59Z Comment by LickNand thank you guys 2022-03-26T10:17:43Z Comment by Joshua Marx Show up for yourself, and show up for others.. No matter what; the stakes are the same. 2022-03-15T09:11:44Z