The whole level of discourse has declined since the time of Reagan and even Clinton.
I’m not normally a “blame the Internet” person, but in this case, I believe there is some merit to the argument.
Before the Internet, if you wanted to discuss politics, you had to do it with real people in real-time. Very often, these were people you knew — your family sitting around the table, your neighbors in your yards, your coworkers meeting around the water cooler, and so on. And you understood that there may be, in that group, people who disagree with you, but, at the end of the conversation, you still had to live and work with these people. As such, you moderated your opinion. Sure, you argued your position, but you didn’t (generally) go overboard because there may have been some real-life social consequences of being seen as extreme in your position.
Now, however, if you want to discuss politics, you can very easily find entire communities online that will cater to whatever your position is. And because these people are strangers whom you will never meet because you are likely hiding behind the anonymity of a screen name, you can let loose with all the vitriol you like. You can espouse a theory, no matter how wacky, and you don’t have to worry about the consequences of having to live and work with the people you are talking to. You can find your own echo chamber of like-minded individuals and get positive reinforcement for your position with no opposition — no matter how correct or ridiculously wrong your position is.
This, I believe, has led to a fundamental change in the way we discuss politics today. Moderation is no longer necessary. You can go full throttle with any language and theories you choose with little if any, social consequences afterward.
The Wolf