Ironically, once you decide a person or group is "stupid," you are relieved from thinking about them [View all]

[RadiationTherapy]

Once permanent labels such as "stupid" "deplorable" "degenerate" and so on are affixed to your target, you no longer have to put forth any effort of thought or persuasion. The "othering" is complete and you can engage in hate, violence, exacting revenge, or whatever reprisals please you. Under such circumstances, your enemy is no longer human. They are merely stupid, deplorable, and deserving of institutional and personal violence.

For myself, I am unimpressed with such labels and, since I am mostly anti-violence, will continue to think, act, and engage with my ideological rivals. I may not be able to preserve a peaceful stance for long, but I will not cut off my empathy by assigning such labels to large groups. To me, that is a red-alert for authoritarianism and fascism.