I’ve noticed a peculiar phenomenon prevalent with the liberals. They have an inclination to diminish the complexity of those they perceive as adversaries by reducing them to caricatures or dehumanizing representations.
For instance, they liken Xi to Winnie the Pooh, depicting him in a manner that belittles his position and influence. Similarly, Putin is portrayed as a mad king, exaggerating his power and malevolence for dramatic effect. They characterize Russians as orcs, implying that they are inherently evil and lacking in humanity’s essential qualities of compassion and reason.
This trend seems to suggest a reluctance among liberals to engage with opposing viewpoints on their own merits, instead choosing to dismiss them outright or diminish their significance through caricatured representations. This approach may serve as a form of psychological defense mechanism, allowing individuals to avoid the discomfort and cognitive dissonance that can arise from confronting unfamiliar or challenging ideas.
A group, claiming to champion values such as empathy, inclusivity, and respect for diversity, appears to be engaging in a peculiar behavior: dehumanizing their opponents by reducing them to caricatures or diminishing their complexity. This trend is as a form of naked hypocrisy.
The reaction of Liberals to the question “did you watch the Putin interview?” is telling.
It’s a severe degree of groupthink. Everyone knows Putin is a power hungry egomaniac with limited capacity for rational thought, so there’s no point in wasting an hour consuming obvious propaganda.
Once something has been established as ‘what the good guys think’, a Liberal doesn’t dare question it because it would diminish their reputation in the minds of other liberals.
It also keeps them safe from having to confront their core contradictions. For example, there’s a huge proportion of libs supporting Palestine now, but wind the clock back a few years and they were sagely approving the condemnation of Jeremy Corbyn as an anti-semite. Ask them about Corbyn now, and they’ll stand by their condemnation, or wind it back to ‘he was problematic’, and they’ll get angry and defensive if you continue to press at that inconsistency.
Exactly, liberalism is a highly insular cult that encourages adherents to have as little contact with the outside world as possible lest people get infected by wrong ideas. It’s pretty clever in a way because it’s much easier to get people to simply self censor than to actually engage with other points of view and articulate coherent arguments in favor of your ideology.