4chan's /pol/ as a source of anti's rhetoric samples

[EOF]

I don't usually browse that board, but it seems to be a good source of anti's rhetoric samples. From what I've seen, every day there is a thread or two about (statutory) rape cases or CP distribution. The topic of pedophilia is touched upon in the other threads as well, usually within the context of smearing some religious, political or racial group with the "pedo" label. Most posts stick with the "monsters! demons! kill them with fire!" narrative, although sometimes discussions where that narrative is questioned do happen. It could be of use to analyze the usual discussion flow in order to develop a proper, better response strategy. The (criminal) cases that serve as the opening posts could deserve some categorization and a well put together community's stance on the matter for each category. Only, we don't seem to have the manpower and the (paid) workhours for the colossal amount of work.

Still, maybe we could try to pick apart (or challenge ourselves with) certain posts that seem 'amusing'. Take this one, for example

But in all seriousness, adults shall not fuck, nor try to fick, kids.
Kids, adolescents, teens, young people or whatever other name you want to call them.
Young people deserve the right to figure out their own sexual development for themselves. Without any interference from adults, who already got their chance in life, at that part of self discovery and experience, and development.
Any time an adult interferes with this sacred time in a young person's life in such a way, they are at best, selfishly stealing something away from the kid.
And at worst- committing crimes against them.

How would you respond?

P.S. Seldom there is some debate in /a/, but the mods are usually quick to destroy everything that is problematic and doesn't exactly pertain to fiction.

[PorcelainLark]

Well, if it's responding to Neo-Nazis you could just label it as opening the door for "degeneracy". Imply self-discovery really means making minors gay/trans, or encouraging them to go down the cat-lady path, whereas early marriage sets minors on the right path. By their own logic, it's not necessarily even wrong to say that.

In reality I don't know if people on /pol/ really have a consistent view, except as a side effect of other issues. Pedos bad because Muslim rape gang, pedos bad because Hollywood Jews, etc. But then look how indifferent right-wingers can be about this stuff when it's in the Republican party.

As much as this might be a controversial comparison, you could see parallels with how Neo-Nazis view the Pro-Palestine cause. Incidentally, it hurts their perceived enemies, even though the majority of Pro-Palestinian people aren't actually Nazis. Likewise, they appropriate the rhetoric of sex-negative progressives to advance conservative sexual morality. So it's not just people that view pedophilia as immoral that you're arguing with, it's people who see pedophilia as a proxy issue for other things.

[mrlolicon93]

Yep you are absolutely right OP.

Modern day 4chan hates pedophiles/pedophilia despite the fact that many who were in the original userbase in the 2000s were actual pedophiles and the /b/ board used to have daily CP and lolicon threads that would get hundreds of replies.

However in recent years that has changed as Reddit and 4chan now share the same exact userbase 4chan has lost the culture that it once had.

I am banned on there simply for just being a pedo.

[Fragment]

4chan, in the days of Ron Paul (2008 and 2012), was especially libertarian leaning.

Between 2012-2016, especially with the rise of Trump you saw a lot of Paul fans and the libertarian-ish members of the alt-rite become increasingly more nationalist and Trump leaning.

Owning lefties and being anti-woke became more important than having a consistent free speech or libertarian position.

One of the biggest examples of this shift in terms of “thought leaders” is Stefan Molyneux who went from arguing anarcho-capitalism (and opposing feminism etc based on that) to being a white nationalist. But Sargon of Akkad, Dave Rubin and Milo all started out as more libertarian than where they’ve ended up.

There are still some libertarians and libertarian leaning people on 4chan. But much less.

[FairBlueLove]

Still, maybe we could try to pick apart (or challenge ourselves with) certain posts that seem 'amusing'. Take this one, for example

But in all seriousness, adults shall not fuck, nor try to fick, kids.
Kids, adolescents, teens, young people or whatever other name you want to call them.
Young people deserve the right to figure out their own sexual development for themselves. Without any interference from adults, who already got their chance in life, at that part of self discovery and experience, and development.
Any time an adult interferes with this sacred time in a young person's life in such a way, they are at best, selfishly stealing something away from the kid.
And at worst- committing crimes against them.

How would you respond?

This passage just reveals how the writer and their supporters assume as a given that sexual engagement with kids can exist solely as a coercive and self-serving act, which stands in stark contrast to the typical pro-C MAP intentions.

And then... why engaging sexually is referred to as "interference", while engaging intellectually is usually referred to as "education"?

[Fragment]

Young people deserve the right to figure out their own academic development for themselves. Without any interference from adults, who already got their chance in life, at that part of self discovery and experience, and development.
Any time an adult interferes with this sacred time in a young person's life in such a way, they are at best, selfishly stealing something away from the kid.

Changed one single word and the entire thing seems like an argument for abolishing schools and potentially even the nuclear family.