@Popehat I think people are just doing the things they always did and they're just shocked it no longer works. I think there's a very strong tendency, especially in the older generation, of something that I'd call "asshole plausible deniability". As in: "Sorry, but Mr. Smith is a respectable member of our city council and things between him and his wife are family matters that we do not concern ourselves with.". In other words - as long as you're "someone", you get to abuse your relations of power and get away with it - as long as you can spin a story that can pass a superficial test of credibility.

But now, for various reasons, that doesn't seem to work as well. People have started understanding that oppressive power structures exist and that enabling people who abuse those structures doesn't really make the world better. However, those who grew up within these structures and abused them aren't exactly going to give up and call themselves the bad guys publicly - so they're engaging more and more into something I call "vice conservatism" aka "I have a right to be an asshole and not be called out about it".

@Popehat @imbou If you want to understand smallpox, infecting yourself with smallpox might give you some personal insight, but isn't going to give you as much understanding as simply reading the vast literature of writing by people who study smallpox. Same applies to fascism.

You shouldn't invite Nazis onto your podcast for the same reason you shouldn't expose your audience to smallpox. Not all learning needs to be experiential.