The sanewashing post linked in the article is hilariously ironic:
https://old.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/js84tu/how_did_...
> So with all that explained - I think it's pretty simple. Mainstream progressives 'sanewashed' the "Defund The Police" position because they'd acquired the position through social spaces that imply anyone who doesn't hold those positions are guilty. If you exist in social spaces like that primarily, you almost don't have the option to dissent. The incentives against it are too strong. And that's how and why people will continually push for completely dumb slogans and ideas like that, even when it makes no sense - and sometimes, especially when it makes no sense. Because they assume it has to, and will rationalize their own reasons why it does.
This is a post in r/neoliberal which itself is a subculture with its own rationalizations. It assumes that their positions are "right" and default because they've thought "rationally" about them. But ironically, all social spaces and especially social media spaces are subject to this same pressure. Look at this thread where the poster has negative votes and the reddit OP is responding to:
https://old.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/js84tu/how_did_...
This is the exact same pressures the reddit OP is decrying in left spaces. This is such a perfect encapsulation of liberals acting in left spaces, co-opting the space and making it moderate rather than listening and helping amplify left ideas and solutions.
> It's not devoid of argument, but the key call to action is "Listen to trans people" - in other words, really, an appeal to "you should be a good person", a condemnation of people who don't "Listen to trans people", and the implication that if you're a Good Cis Perosn, you will Listen To Trans People like the one in the thread. "SJW" spaces spread their desired information and views to sympathetic people by appealing to the morality, empathy, and fairness of the situation, but with a strong serving of 'those who do not adapt to these views and positions are inherently guilty'.
Left spaces have to appeal to emotion because "logic" and rational thinking itself are co-opted by everyone to the right who have made it this grey space where "logic" == moral correctness == my opinion. Maybe when people say "listen" they actually mean listen and stop trying to apply logic and rationalization to everything. Maybe you need to actually need to do emotional work and sympathize to understand where leftists are coming from. And really maybe you do have to internalize at least a shred of guilt to understand your position in the world and how you might be impacting someone's ability to be heard.