You don't understand the Culture War

Examining the blind spots of digital social conflict

These days, there is a laudable desire to turn down the temperature of social conflicts in our chaotic times. While a nice idea in theory, in practice this often results in well-meaning but misguided calls to ‘rise above division’. There is a dangerous and counter-productive assumption that all wounds will be mended and all differences can be set aside. This lack of seriousness can further entrench resentment as it can be interpreted as callous indifference. For those without stakes in the conflict, it is all-too-easy to mock participants as dull brutes or hysterical maniacs. But there is so much more to it.

The ‘culture war’ in the western world is far from just a feat of advanced social engineering. Being more than mere theater, the dynamics are complex and self-reinforcing. It is a black hole of misery that slowly and insidiously traps victims before they can even recognize they’re captured. Those outside it hardly notice it at all, but those trapped inside are suffering incomprehensible horrors. Just as light can’t escape the gravity well of a black hole, the stories of those from within the culture war seem impossible to be understood outside it.

This piece is an attempt to address some critical blind spots that exacerbate the problem. I certainly can not claim to have the last word on this. This is merely my own self-reflection from my years wrestling with these questions. There are critical observations that must be understood if we truly wish to resolve the negative feedback loops working against our online and actual freedom. If nothing else this is an invitation for those who are outside the culture war to better connect with those trapped within it. We should hope that these feedback loops are reversible, because a lot more is at stake than just the mental health of our socially isolated. If we are not careful, the black hole of the culture war can consume not just ourselves, but all of society.

Scapegoating tech

Our technological landscape often gets the brunt of the blame for the culture war and its consequences. The consolidation of our digital experience has brought state-of-the-art manipulation through a variety of sophisticated means. Smartphones were a beachhead for corporations to launch novel surveillance, manipulation and consumption oriented paradigms. People are justifiably concerned about algorithmic amplification and state-level propaganda campaigns being weaponized against the public. The error is to believe that this is all there is to our present polarization and rising tensions. It is the height of hubris, if not outright negligence to presume that our social problems are dictated by technology and not the reverse.

It is quite convenient that tech gets the majority of the blame, because it allows us to absolve our own responsibility for these patterns. Every technological evil has a really simple engineering solution but an immensely challenging collective action problem keeping it in place. This directly contradicts the flawed assumption that our digital experience dictates actual power. People are not powerless because our technological tools withhold it from them. In truth, these systems are merely adapted to suit the needs of a public in captivity.

The weapons of the internet age are undeniably powerful force multipliers, but they are far from the source of the anguish and pain driving the culture war. Any honest accounting of the deep roots of our present-day nihilism and tragedy would take us back far before the public went online. Just as we could never have expected the world wide web to resolve all our human failings, we can’t truly hang all our hopes and blame on it either. Building a better future for people online and ‘IRL’ requires contending with the darkness that drives people to self-destructive escapism.

It is a serious lack of conscious awareness if not basic intelligence, to think that physical violence is the worst form that war can take. The war of today is simply far more sophisticated and effective than it once was. And many of the tactics being used are quite frankly far more abusive.

One of the saddest parts of this modern type of warfare is that people do not understand why they feel the way they feel. We all know that wartime is horrible to experience. That it takes a serious toll on people. But when people know the world is at war, and they understand what’s going the things that they’re experiencing and the ways that they’re feeling make sense to them. In this war, so many of the symptoms of war are absolutely there, but nobody actually thinks anything is going on like that.

Teal Swan - The World is Already at War

The human side of the culture war

Politics has often been defined as ‘warfare mediated through other means’. Different people and groups will have different interests and conflicts naturally arise. The question fundamentally boils down to how are those interests protected and what means are used to mediate the conflicts. Cycles of disrespect accelerate into open hostility if not outright violence. This chaos naturally erodes what little tenuous peace remains.

‘Divide and conquer’ works not because people are foolish, but because there will always be real vulnerable points to be exploited. In times of rapid social change, the youth and elders struggle to communicate, much less understand each other. When social roles break down, expectations are unclear and trust becomes a fantasy. The fraying of societal cohesion creates an anxiety that fuels more anti-social behavior, creating a powerful downward spiral.

Ultimately, the fractal of conflicts is merely the renegotiation of unstable dominance hierarchies. Denis Rancourt argues that all our forms of social organization will always be downstream of the shared dominance hierarchy. This has some very troubling implications, but absolutely explains why politics is as dysfunctional as it is. You may think you’ve ‘chosen a side’ but in actuality this was already decided for you. Fundamental aspects of who you are will place you neatly within the collectively constructed battle lines. Your decision to engage or not means little when your existence is interpreted as an existential threat to others.

Spiteful Mutants: The bastard children of a dying empire

How did ‘wokeness’ spread from a niche ideology of extremely online college students to being a de-facto state-mandated religion of managerial elites? People will often point to ‘weaponized empathy’ as the defining characteristic that allowed it to flourish, but this is a mischaracterization of something important. Social justice was able to fill a crucial niche that had gone long abandoned: a trauma-informed approach to politics. Due to their personal experiences, these people were able to peer into the abyss of the darkest human evils, tragically the abyss often peers back.

With this knowledge. the progressive left innovated a radically different way of approaching systems of power. By deconstructing order, they were able to identify how predators leverage self-destructive feedback loops to keep prey in line. This understanding unearthed a wide variety of political, social, and economic warfare that their opponents were wholly unprepared for. The right, but even the general public found it impossible to engage without conceding to the progressive framework. This was because they had no conception for a understanding of politics that wrestled with the nature of trauma. This did have consequences however, the brash and overzealous enforcement of progressive norms created a powerful opposing force. Many correctly recognized that dangerous political weapons were being used to monopolize not just the public discussion, but actual institutional, social, and economic power. This reaction created what was called the ‘alt-right’. What most people will recognize is that both the woke progressives and alt-right are extremely online movements, but that’s just what’s visible from the surface.

What people struggle to recognize is that these are just the most outwards and overt expressions of broader undercurrents. These major factions are entirely corrupted by the economic and social influences of online media. Because the movements were born online, they are creatures of that environment. The YouTube recommendation algorithm is often cited as a major driving force of online radicalization. This is funny because very often progressive men would complain about Jordan Peterson or Ben Shapiro videos being pushed to them. They couldn’t understand why the algorithm would recommend something so alien to their preferences. But what the algorithm saw, was that these people were so much closer to ’the other side’ than they think. This is because culture-warriors of all stripes are recruited into their preferred digital cult based off their deep wounds and personal characteristics.

People correctly diagnose that most authoritarian progressives have a deep rooted hatred for the society they live in, but they seldom ask why. A charitable understanding of the spiteful nihilism requires dissecting the pain and hurt that drives people to hate their origins. Many incomprehensible behaviors make quite a bit of sense when you consider the consequences of abuse, hopelessness, and a lack of constructive outlets for rage. On the other hand, the existence of the alt-right shows that not all people respond to the same trauma the same way. There are many adaptations and reactions one can have from the same difficulties. The more defensive and hostile stance of the right is perfectly suited to escalate the game the woke is playing.

Ironically, heavy-handed efforts to prevent conflicts escalate them. Censoring hate drives further resentment, and restricting conflicts seems to only raise the stakes. A terrified public desperately pleads the state to take drastic measures to ‘avoid civil war’. These knee-jerk reactions are wholly unable to assess much less resolve root causes and inevitably backfire. This creates a run away cycle where the means of preserving order are leveraged to create more chaos and destruction.

Forging peace in turbulent times

We absolutely need to be fiercely critical of how the digital systems we use exacerbate real social problems. But if we allow ourselves to believe that technological systems are the source of our social problems we are setting up for total failure. To truly resolve the difficult problems of our time, we’re going to need significantly more seriousness, honesty, and care than is readily available. Humanizing others, and ourselves to others is only the first step.

Courageously rejecting awful paradigms

Give yourself permission to think outside the prescribed narrative. Just because you’re given a (false) binary choice, that doesn’t mean either is a particularly good option. Having the courage and patience to find a way to be something radically different is a fantastic gift to yourself. You are not confined to fitting within the characterization your enemies have for you.

Technological paradigms are arguably the easiest to change. You should recognize that everything can change with enough time and effort. All the platforms and systems we use are ultimately things we could redesign from scratch if we wanted to. None of the gadgets and software we encounter will be eternal, so embrace the mission of playing for the long game.

Building a virtuous cycle: Understanding

If there’s one skill that can be a game-changer moving forward it would be epistemological humility. By that I mean being willing to recognize that you don’t, but also likely can’t know everything. There are going to be people with experiences you don’t and maybe can’t understand. By being able to tolerate some uncertainty, it is so much easier to listen to those vastly different than you. This way, you can build a connection that allows you to begin to learn their experience.

By understanding our differences, it’s perfectly reasonable to put up boundaries. Self respect isn’t hatred. Understanding doesn’t mean enabling. Instead of taking an all-or-nothing approach, we can begin to actually negotiate rather than escalate conflicts. By beginning to recognize and assert our needs, it is so much easier to avoid self-destructive passivity.

A useful recommendation to the right, but even the public generally, would be to build a better understanding of trauma responses. The progressive left, and some of the mainstream discussion has a fairly decent grasp of these issues. Unfortunately, those without this understanding are effectively easy prey for those who have it. With this understanding we can genuinely reach out to those who are hurting and provide genuine care instead of moralizing and condescension.

Redemption: The antidote to nihilism

Despite being innovative and powerful, the progressive project is largely doomed. This is because it emphasizes inherent and collective evils that are immovable burdens on those who carry the blame. The progressive understanding of power is quite useful at identifying serious challenges, but entirely worthless when it comes to solutions. By treating people as irredeemable you’re forcing them into choose all out war, or self-debasement. This ‘Church of no salvation’ breeds apathy on behalf of those who refuse to submit and self-loathing among those who do. To truly bring people together, there needs to actually be a viable path for repentance.

People are going to disappoint you, and they’re going to fall short in a lot of different ways. To actually make a difference we’re going to need more than just those who neatly fit within our preferences. This requires a radically different approach to the madness of today’s politics. Honor cultures are corrosive to authentic values because they inevitably descend into prioritizing appearances rather than substance.

Forgiveness is not about creating opportunities for future harm, but about ensuring that those who wish to make amends are able to do so. We should be gentle with those who have been wounded by the abuses of the culture war. They’re going to be sensitive and troubled, but a lot of good can come from learning from our own mistakes. By salvaging good out of the evils of our time, we can learn, create and share real solutions to our troubles.