The term "the left" or "liberals" and such tends to make me tune out, figuring someone's about to make a straw-man argument or engage in the national pastime of

The term "the left" or "liberals" and such tends to make me tune out, figuring someone's about to make a straw-man argument or engage in the national pastime of our political pundits: shadow-boxing with figments of their own imagination that embody the very worst of the people they wish to argue against. Also, it just entrenches this "us versus them" thing. Some people are obsessed with the idea of cultural appropriation. Make an argument about that. "The left" just dog-whistles that some other nefarious group believes something and, so, before you even hear my argument you should be biased against them because they're the "other," the evil, untrustworthy "other." Always up to no good, those "others."