The prerequisite for civilized discourse is that arguments should stand or fall on their own merits. To evaluate opinions on the basis of the sociopolitical ide

The prerequisite for civilized discourse is that arguments should stand or fall on their own merits. To evaluate opinions on the basis of the sociopolitical identity of the author, and to shout down those who do not pass this test, is pure prejudice indicative of intellectual debility. I enjoyed reading the contrarian comments attached to the article, because they were revealingly thin on argumentation. My favourite one was "this is not a good article", closely followed by the inscrutable "you need to come to terms with the idea that you're more libertarian than left-wing."