It is an attempt to 'win' an argument by association of popular figure or as a gotcha. People get upset because said popular figures did not endorse those belie

It is an attempt to 'win' an argument by association of popular figure or as a gotcha. People get upset because said popular figures did not endorse those beliefs others are trying to cast. Even right now I've seen on reddit r/Republicans, George Orwell quoted to describe democrat policies that would have been moderate or even right wing to Orwell. Ive seen it more with Americans and I think part has been the lack of comparable strife in US. Here in Europe we had the devastion of ww2 and the soviet Union on our doorstep. My own homeland was in effective civil war up till the 90s and still suffers from its lingering effect. To us, Orwell isnt describing a universal health care which he supported. They are in response to the literal death squads that would kill at random. US simply doesn't understand actual tyranny. Moderation looks like extremism when you have such a narrow field of view of politics.