https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_cliché
As the party fielded more and more candidates who championed economic-right policies in order to attract corporate donations, the idea of “purity testing” was turned into a stock phrase to attack critics using labels, instead of justifying it on its own terms.
Phrases like “moral purity” now serve two functions: firstly, to dismiss criticisms from the Left wholesale without having to discuss them directly, and secondly, to blame them for the rise of fascism.
In theory it was also supposed to serve a third function of bullying the Left into voting Democrat, but that didn’t work.
Absolutely agreed and that has been my online experience too. And as far as consensus building - a lot of people don’t seem to understand what it takes to create a coalition that has actual policy power in the USA. And they also don’t seem to understand that when you don’t have a bloc with political power you’re never going to get the respect, much less policy consessions, that you’d like to get.
“They just don’t understand what it takes to create a coalition!” I cry, as I fail to create a coalition.
Special thanks to the users at .ml for being the best at dividing the left
I do not understand how you managed to type that out without realising the irony.
I don’t understand how you type anything out without realizing you’re tools for rightwing authoritarians
Eugene V. Debs
How’s that “coalition building” working out for you?