Humans used to resort to physical violence as well as name calling. Rome had a series of senators brutally murdered in session, even before Cesar. Andrew Jack

Humans used to resort to physical violence as well as name calling. Rome had a series of senators brutally murdered in session, even before Cesar. Andrew Jackson used to physically attack opponents. The whole Aaron Burr story. My unsupport theory is that we've pacified to the point where anyone can say anything without getting beat up or killed, which allows people to push the envelope. I'm not suggesting we should go back to violence, but i think the lack of direct violence in a person-to-person setting have enabled more and more wild speech.