The mindset is prevailing, I fear, that if a person isn’t actively part of the multitudes condemning, blasting and otherwise speaking negatively about something, then the person must be one of “them” or at least a sympathizer. Once upon a time, the requirement involved shouting at the top of one’s lungs. Now it’s a certain percentage of one’s social media presence.
Then I was struck by a parallel. The novel 1984 depicts a “Two Minutes Hate” that everyone must participate in, screaming against images of “enemies.” It is no less absurd that today everyone is expected to join in denouncing this and that, for two days and maybe even two weeks.
Another parallel is people attempting to erase history that they don’t like by demanding that statues and monuments of people and causes that they interpret differently than those in the past who are responsible for erecting them did be removed. In the novel 1984 certain people and events of the past were erased from the public records.