There is a peculiar form of human idiocy, unusually common on the political Left but not, alas, unheard of in any segment of society: the assumption that if a person has listened to what you are saying, they must necessarily agree with you. And therefore, if anyone disagrees with you, it’s because they were not listening, and you need to shout louder to ‘make your voice heard’ and ‘raise consciousness’ on the subject.
Yes, you tiresome yellers, we hear you. Our consciousness was raised ages ago. We just disagree with you; and the more you make yourselves disagreeable, the more we are convinced that we are quite right to disagree.
Obiter dictum
7 August 2025 by 3 Comments
But don’t you see? Any rational person would agree with them because they’re *right!* If you don’t agree, you must not be listening, or misunderstanding, or being incomprehensibly evil.
Sometimes they are upset because they clearly are failing to express their ideas right.
I’ve run across it in a non-political conversation, where even pointing out that I understood but did not agree did not help, but all the discussions among Democrats about rebranding and terminology fall under that.
We need to have a conversation about this.
Which means you need to listen to me.