I think this is the thing that bothers me most about this election cycle. Over the past fifty years the West has made some real strides in terms of human rights, and what is and isn't acceptable in a civilised society. Racism = bad. Homophobia = bad. Women are people. Hating a person because of their religion or skin colour makes you a piece of shit. Not everybody chooses to live their lives according to these principals, but the fact that we've generally agreed on some basic points makes those people the outlier rather than the norm.

But these guys, they don't just want to talk about immigration or the economy - you know, politics. They want to start a conversation about things that really, at this point in history, shouldn't need to be discussed any more. They've hijacked the concept of free speech, and have created a form of discourse where undermining some basic tenants of the social contract become a matter of opinion. We need to have some basic moral principals as a society, and Donald Trump has made them topics of discussion rather than just innate standards of human decency. That's why it can be so difficult to argue with some of these people. The argument itself is already a victory for them. This also applies to some of the blatant lies that some of them throw about (pizzagate, anyone?) - how do you argue with a man who says the sky is green? How do you explain to him that some things just are? Especially when he responds to any assertion on your part with "I'm entitled to my opinion, you're restricting my freedom of speech, I'm just asking questions."

We need to return to a mode of discourse that combats this attitude without engaging it. The more you discuss these things the more the other party believes there is a discussion to be had, and that is not a good thing, because people are really really stupid and will take that as a sign that both sides are equally worthy of consideration.

But what would that discourse look like? I honestly have no idea, but I feel like it's right on the tip of my tongue. I mean how do we come to hold these ideas in the first place? How are we taught a basic sense of right and wrong?