Right Wing Discussion Thread XIX

[Diopolis]

Go ahead. A good portion of us are bored stuck at home anyways.

There is a common belief taught among the upper ranks in Turkey that America is effectively run by Jews. The easiest way to insure themselves is to keep good relations with Israel especially in regards to defense. This keeps the human rights brigades at bay. Even Mr. Erdogan won't halt defense cooperation. Having a big thonk!

Easy to see from the outside, isn't it?

[LiberNovusAmericae]

My ideal society would be a multicultural/racial one with a shared religion to maintain coherence and brotherhood.

I'm, ironically enough, the opposite. A monocultural country (not necessarily ethno-homogeneous) is a lot more coherent than a mono-religious one.

I think your ideal society would be more stable. Culture has a unifying effect.

[The East Marches II]

There is a common belief taught among the upper ranks in Turkey that America is effectively run by Jews. The easiest way to insure themselves is to keep good relations with Israel especially in regards to defense. This keeps the human rights brigades at bay. Even Mr. Erdogan won't halt defense cooperation. Having a big thonk!

Easy to see from the outside, isn't it?

This is my official statement.

[Salus Maior]

My ideal society would be a multicultural one with a shared religion.

Don't really see the appeal.

I appreciate other cultures *shrug*. Particularly the various Christian ones.

[Salus Maior]

I'm, ironically enough, the opposite. A monocultural country (not necessarily ethno-homogeneous) is a lot more coherent than a mono-religious one.

I think your ideal society would be more stable. Culture has a unifying effect.

Religion is also a form of culture.

[LiberNovusAmericae]

I think your ideal society would be more stable. Culture has a unifying effect.

Religion is also a form of culture.

True, but there is more to culture than just religion.

[Imperium Romanum Sanctis]

Anyone care to share their xenophilial tendancies?

I've been delving into Song dynasty China because of my fondness for Song Neo-Confucianism. I'd like to buy some clothes based on the period to larp as a Confucian bureaucrat.

You might find the hats rather annoying.

You probably already know this, but they were designed to be intentionally long and uncomfortable, so that the emperor's court officials couldn't whisper into each others' ears and engage in gossip/typical eunuch stuff.

[Salus Maior]

Religion is also a form of culture.

True, but there is more to culture than just religion.

Indeed, but likewise religion as a form of culture can also have a unifying effect.

[Imperium Romanum Sanctis]

I think your ideal society would be more stable. Culture has a unifying effect.

Religion is also a form of culture.

In some cases, sure, but nowadays it's mostly a cultural component or complementary aspect of broader cultural groups.

The era when religion definitively was the defining aspect of one's culture/identity largely died (at least in the case of Europe/Western civilization) with the High Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.

[The East Marches II]

Anyone care to share their xenophilial tendancies?

My ideal society would be a multicultural/racial one with a shared religion to maintain coherence and brotherhood.

Der Ewige Hapsperger

[Joohan]

I've been delving into Song dynasty China because of my fondness for Song Neo-Confucianism. I'd like to buy some clothes based on the period to larp as a Confucian bureaucrat.

You might find the hats rather annoying.

You probably already know this, but they were designed to be intentionally long and uncomfortable, so that the emperor's court officials couldn't whisper into each others' ears and engage in gossip/typical eunuch stuff.

i'm sorry... Hu-What?

Edit: Didn't really work out too well did it?

[Albennia]

Anyone care to share their xenophilial tendancies?

Japan, the Sakha, and the Malagasy.

[Diopolis]

Religion is also a form of culture.

In some cases, sure, but nowadays it's mostly a cultural component or complementary aspect of broader cultural groups.

The era when religion definitively was the defining aspect of one's culture/identity largely died (at least in the case of Europe/Western civilization) with the High Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.

You may have noticed this, but he wants to go back to those days.

[Imperium Romanum Sanctis]

You might find the hats rather annoying.

You probably already know this, but they were designed to be intentionally long and uncomfortable, so that the emperor's court officials couldn't whisper into each others' ears and engage in gossip/typical eunuch stuff.

i'm sorry... Hu-What?

Edit: Didn't really work out too well did it?

Yeah, it was quite silly and short-sighted.

Then again, the Song were really just a discount version of the Tang Dynasty. Militarily they were never particularly strong, and their dynasty ultimately got wrecked by barbarian invaders.

[Hanafuridake]

I've been delving into Song dynasty China because of my fondness for Song Neo-Confucianism. I'd like to buy some clothes based on the period to larp as a Confucian bureaucrat.

You might find the hats rather annoying.

You probably already know this, but they were designed to be intentionally long and uncomfortable, so that the emperor's court officials couldn't whisper into each others' ears and engage in gossip/typical eunuch stuff.

Ingenious.

[Albennia]

Religion is also a form of culture.

In some cases, sure, but nowadays it's mostly a cultural component or complementary aspect of broader cultural groups.

The era when religion definitively was the defining aspect of one's culture/identity largely died (at least in the case of Europe/Western civilization) with the High Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.

indeed, it sort of stopped having the appeal when the people fucking Northumbria over were Christian Scots and Normans instead of Norse heathens.

[The East Marches II]

Daily Reminder: Bismarck did nothing wrong

[Salus Maior]

My ideal society would be a multicultural/racial one with a shared religion to maintain coherence and brotherhood.

Der Ewige Hapsperger

Yes.

[Imperium Romanum Sanctis]

In some cases, sure, but nowadays it's mostly a cultural component or complementary aspect of broader cultural groups.

The era when religion definitively was the defining aspect of one's culture/identity largely died (at least in the case of Europe/Western civilization) with the High Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.

You may have noticed this, but he wants to go back to those days.

Oh... yes.

That's a fair point. Mea culpa.

[Salus Maior]

In some cases, sure, but nowadays it's mostly a cultural component or complementary aspect of broader cultural groups.

The era when religion definitively was the defining aspect of one's culture/identity largely died (at least in the case of Europe/Western civilization) with the High Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.

You may have noticed this, but he wants to go back to those days.

To a degree, I think many people are already in those days considering modern secularism has wedged itself into power. Lots of devout Christians are at odds with mainstream culture and are unable to identify with it, separating themselves into a subculture defined by their faith.

[Albennia]

You may have noticed this, but he wants to go back to those days.

To a degree, I think many people are already in those days considering modern secularism has wedged itself into power. Lots of devout Christians are at odds with mainstream culture and are unable to identify with it, separating themselves into a subculture defined by their faith.

Oh, you don't even know how much of a good idea you just gave me

[Joohan]

i'm sorry... Hu-What?

Edit: Didn't really work out too well did it?

Yeah, it was quite silly and short-sighted.

Then again, the Song were really just a discount version of the Tang Dynasty. Militarily they were never particularly strong, and their dynasty ultimately got wrecked by barbarian invaders.

I will give it to the Chinese - they bounce back WAY better from barbarian invasions than the Romans ever did. The mongols of the Yuan dynasty seemed to be far more successful in their assimilation than what the Franks pretended to be in the Holy Roman Empire.

Edit: I know that there is a lot of nuisance to that, so no one crucify me.

[Wheatonleks]

I disagree with libertarians on a lot, but food deserts are bunk. Most poor people are overweight/obese because of their own decisions. Allow me to demonstrate with a quick, nonscientific example. I have the Ubereats page for McDonald's pulled up in front of me.

-Big Mac - $6.71 - 540 calories
-Southwest Salad - $5.99 - 220 calories

Which do you is more popular at the McDonald's in the ghetto?

For similar reasons, zero-calorie White Claw costs the same as your regular beers (Miller, Coors, Bud, etc.), yet the same people are gravitating towards Bud Light Cheladas and malt liquor.

The idea of poor-people eating out is so silly to me because that’s so much more expensive than just cooking up some of your own food, I think the whole “food desert” thing is just statist nonsense to justify wasting taxpayer dollars on programs like food stamps to stop the poor from working out of their situation

[Imperium Romanum Sanctis]

In some cases, sure, but nowadays it's mostly a cultural component or complementary aspect of broader cultural groups.

The era when religion definitively was the defining aspect of one's culture/identity largely died (at least in the case of Europe/Western civilization) with the High Middle Ages and Early Modern Period.

indeed, it sort of stopped having the appeal when the people fucking Northumbria over were Christian Scots and Normans instead of Norse heathens.

It was ultimately a by-product of the collapse of the Roman Empire.

The unifying Roman culture/civilization was gone, and something needed to fill the void. The invading barbarians' cultures weren't really an option, since they were a small minority in their newly conquered lands and their cultural practices left a lot to be desires; so the Church became the new unifier. Of course, the Church had very little in the way of a military, and needed to come to some sort of arrangement with the barbarian warlords.

Thus European feudalism was born.

It was far from ideal, but there wasn't much of an alternative; and the moment actual nation-states became viable once again in the Early Modern period the whole "religion as the mainstream form of identity" phenomenon largely died, along with Feudalism. The former did see a brief revival in some parts of Europe during the Protestant Reformation, but that was moreso a transition phase.

[Imperium Romanum Sanctis]

Yeah, it was quite silly and short-sighted.

Then again, the Song were really just a discount version of the Tang Dynasty. Militarily they were never particularly strong, and their dynasty ultimately got wrecked by barbarian invaders.

I will give it to the Chinese - they bounce back WAY better from barbarian invasions than the Romans ever did. The mongols of the Yuan dynasty seemed to be far more successful in their assimilation than what the Franks pretended to be in the Holy Roman Empire.

Edit: I know that there is a lot of nuisance to that, so no one crucify me.

Monoculturalism has its perks.

Trying to govern an empire where 90+% of your subjects are Han Chinese tends to result in the conquerors either assimilating into the dominant culture or eventually being overthrown. Granted, they can refuse to assimilate and stay in power for long periods of time (as was the case with the Qing, who remained Manchu and governed China for 260+ years), but in the end China always has a habit of reverting to Han Chinese rule.

Their big problem though is the Chinese obsession with perfection. Time and time again, China has been on the cusp of global dominance only for some stupid policy or mindset to ruin everything and set them back by centuries. A notable example would be in the early 1400's when the Ming Dynasty (which had just recently explored the East coast of Africa and had the potential to get a headstart on the Europeans in the colonial game) randomly decided to burn its exploration fleet and abandon all future voyages of discovery because China was "already perfect" and didn't need to explore the world. The idea was that China was already the center of global trade, and would forever remain so; thus there was no reason for China to explore or establish colonies overseas. The world would come to them.

Well centuries of stagnation followed, and the world did indeed eventually come to China. Except when it came, it brought vastly advanced ships and armaments that destroyed China's navy, routed its armies and brought the country to its knees.