I think this article is fundamentally correct, and speaking about an unacknowledged but universal force. I remember when I was young, a lot of guys I knew didn

I think this article is fundamentally correct, and speaking about an unacknowledged but universal force. I remember when I was young, a lot of guys I knew didn't openly support gay-marriage because they were afraid that other people would assume they were un-masculine or gay themselves if they supported it. Once it hit the tipping point, where it wasn't a statement about you to support it, the floodgates opened and it was overwhelmingly supported. Same thing with weed. Speaking up in defense of marijuana, when only 10% of people support it, is akin to making yourself look like you personally are a rebel/stoner. Speaking up in defense when the majority support it does not. So again, we saw a massive swing there. I think this type of tactic is sometimes deliberately used (e.g. "You don't support the war? Do you hate America/the-soldiers?") for political ends too, on both sides (e.g. virtue signaling just how wildly progressive I am). If anything, it should make us ask ourselves why we let this happen to us. Why, when I see somebody who has a very expensive car, do I not say "Wow, there's a guy who's paying tens of thousands of dollars to try to buy approval... yikes." ?