> The third trend he noticed was the changing nature of debate. More and more often, someone would claim that an argument was harming a particular demographic, often without specifying how. As he recalls it, “It was at this ‘harm’ stage that people became afraid to speak their minds.”
I've experienced this with people I know, on and offline, and I'm not talking about just ultra-hot-button topics. I recently had a friend tell me that when it came to Israel, "silence was violence" and I just had to break it to him that I support Israel. He then launched into a rant and left... haven't run into him since.
There's an element of fury and intolerance which has been absolutely weaponized, and it's the stuff of nightmares.
Perhaps you lost a friend there, because he pushed for your opinion on a matter where you disagreed. Silence-is-violence-speak is meant to scare people to agree, and when they object, like you did, it is even more harmful.
Imagine two friends, with different opinions on a hot topic, leaving their opinions aside, not bringing it up, because they realize that it makes no difference. In the small world, in relations between people day to day, there is value in leaving politics out of interactions. This is fairly well established in the workplace, but I think it goes about social settings and friends too. If you push for someones opinion, be prepared to accept it as a legitimate opinion. Otherwise, don't ask for it.
I’ve been in that situation. In my experiences the person is looking for a fight and won’t back down until they find one. Even if you came out in support of Hamas it probably wouldn’t have been enough and they still would have gone off a rant. Some people are just filled with hate and can’t stand it when someone try’s to avoid being their target.
Supporting Israel does not neccessarily mean supporting every action by their government. You are assuming way too much about parent, from what he wrote.
Thank you, that's very much what I tried to explain to my friend. After all it's not as though I support everything the US does, under every administration. I still support the US.
Unfortunately people seem to assume that I'm either ill-informed, or heartless.
> The third trend he noticed was the changing nature of debate. More and more often, someone would claim that an argument was harming a particular demographic, often without specifying how. As he recalls it, “It was at this ‘harm’ stage that people became afraid to speak their minds.”
I've experienced this with people I know, on and offline, and I'm not talking about just ultra-hot-button topics. I recently had a friend tell me that when it came to Israel, "silence was violence" and I just had to break it to him that I support Israel. He then launched into a rant and left... haven't run into him since.
There's an element of fury and intolerance which has been absolutely weaponized, and it's the stuff of nightmares.