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Downvoting is about strongly disagreeing with the parent's point. It is not demonizing.

Hell, I got downvoted for suggesting that hate was a motivator for a subset of people. I'm sadly confident in that assessment but such is life on teh interwebs.

There's very effective messaging that bends the perception of "progressive" values to be a literal attack on those who don't share those values. It's a strong disagreement and nothing more.

I would be classified as a progressive (but it's not my identity) -- I don't hate people "on the other side". I have not-positive feelings about them (puzzlement, frustration, sadness, and unfortunately, fear), but hate is not part of that equation.

One of the most frustrating things about this situation is that real dialog across the aisles is no longer possible. I could elucidate on why I think so but I don't need more angry downvotes today. Just note that the person you're commenting to will likely avoid sharing anything other than grievances.




I was asking for specifics because there may be some but I think it's mostly a sense that's just meme-ing around. Evidence is great.




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