They would disagree because “lots of people are liberals.” Which is, ironically, a common defense a lot of cults use to justify why they aren’t a cult.

The “Call centre” script is pretty fascinating though, reminds me a lot of creationists. You can show them evidence of transitional fossils, biology experiments demonstrating evolution in a lab, it doesn’t matter. They’ll ask for specific evidence, then when presented with it, find some excuse to ignore it, like tone policing or attacking a source for being “illegitimate” or “biased” without even reading it. And when they can’t do that, they’ll just ignore the responses and only interact with the people hurling insults because they can dismiss that much more easily than a reasonable argument.

That’s an interesting idea. I’ve said something similar irl, that there’s a bourgeois script.

There’s no point arguing with someone who goes into it by default. Especially family members. Not everyone uses it, but for those who do, the only end point is an exchange of insults.

Good examples are reactionary TV ‘news’ presenters. They aren’t interested in the argument or evidence, only providing their audience with another example to confirm their pre-existing worldview. There’s always another quip, another reason why they don’t have to consider a new idea. It’s infuriating. But when you can recognise it, you’ll save yourself a lot of intellectual hardship and emotional pain.

>liberalism is just a cult at this point

Had this viewpoint since my Neocon through Third Position days. Still had it by the time I entered communism. Agreed comrade.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Most people approach politics like a religion. Especially liberals have dogmas and anathemas and they can’t explain to you why they hold them as such. They assume these things simply ARE.