It’s a symptom of the bipartisan mindrot that is polarization. “You’re either with us or against us”. Thus disagreement is escalated to opposition, opposition

It’s a symptom of the bipartisan mindrot that is polarization. “You’re either with us or against us”. Thus disagreement is escalated to opposition, opposition is escalated to vilification. The culture warriors no longer hold viewpoints, they have identities, and identities are inviolable[0]. Challenge is thus perceived as an existential attack that must be defeated at all costs. Words are labelled as violence. Pushback is labelled as genocide. Suddenly everyone is either a Nazi or a pedophile. [0] http://www.paulgraham.com/identity.html http://www.paulgraham.com/identity.html