This is a good place to link to Scott Alexander's The Toxoplasma of Rage again. I look at what supposedly rational people are post about politics on Facebook and I think "They can't possibly believe that. Is no one standing back a few yards and asking themselves how this will all look in retrospect?"
No they aren't. This is performative politics, where you show how much you care and really really hate those other people, who are unutterably stupid, because you aren't a fair-weather supporter. You are one of the best, a foxhole friend who sticks with their side even when it makes no sense.
After all, anyone can agree with you when you're right. That doesn't mark you out as one of the special ones.
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