GenZedong

I think there's also the fact that a lot of things can be understood as "censorship" even when we don't normally call it that. Moderating, blocking, filtering, defederating, etc.

Libs are so used to calling all the bad parts of liberalism by a different name that they really believe they're not [doing the thing] while [doing the thing]. Like how they're not concentration camps, they're "immigration overflow facilities." And they don't sell weapons, they "provide lethal aid." And they definitely don't impoverish millions of people in order to incite war, no they uh "apply targeted sanctions" or something.

They probably, genuinely, don't see the contradiction in advocating for free speech while banning stuff instinctively. They categorically don't see it that way, because they're the ones doing it.

I think a big part of it is liberals believe they are intelligent, free thinkers who can sift the truth from the lies. Trouble is, they are not given the tools to do so, and liberalism is ingrained in people from the moment we first learn to talk, so it comes as such a natural thing to them that questioning the liberal outlook would be like questioning the existence of the sun to them. It's just a thing that is there, a permanent fixture of life.

So they believe they are determining the "facts" correctly, but they don't even consider that the framework they use to examine the facts is flawed and doesn't always give correct results. It just "is." and by extension, everyone uses the same framework, because it is the only framework that exists. So when they see someone who arrives at radically different conclusions to themselves on an issue, they have two options in their mind:

1: I was using the framework wrong.

2: They were using the framework wrong.

So when they look at people like QAnon, this is an easy answer, as they also use the liberal framework, but clearly have "gotten things wrong." so to your standard lib, they can point that out no problem, as QAnon is easy to debunk. And in the event of a situation where they are wrong, but within the framework of liberalism, they can have no problem admitting that (some do, but plenty of "skeptics" and that tend to be willing to change their minds on things within this framework.)

But when they encounter someone outside the framework, like a communist, they just don't understand. We don't fit into either of their two boxes, because we aren't using the same liberal framework to analyse the world. So they awkwardly try to fit us into the "Using the framework wrong." box, but we obviously don't fit into it neatly enough. Worse still, things that liberalism says are "impossible to predict" or "impossible to prevent." are both predictable and preventable within a socialist framework. Things like recessions happen like clockwork under capitalism, but the liberal response to this is to shrug and say "no one knows how they happen." So when we predict a recession, or a socialist country doesn't suffer from one, it causes the liberal a lot of discomfort. We're supposed to be using the framework wrong, yet here we are, understanding an event better than they do.

So their only option is to insist we are "lying" or "fake news" somehow. When liberalism brushes up against reality, they have to choose liberalism or reality. Most will just plug their ears and force themselves to watch Marvel movies, Clockwork Orange style until they forget all about it, but some realise the system they've taken as a gospel truth their whole lives isn't actually a good framework for understanding the world, and they might like to look for better ones. (Unfortunately, a lot of them fall for fascism at this point, because it offers the same easy answers as liberalism, but pretends to not be liberalism. So it is familiar and comforting to them.)

Jeez, take a shot every time I said "framework" goddamn.

I dig it. This explains how liberals can disengage from reasonable arguments by the left while pretending to have internal consistency.

Also, I agree. This comment was good enough to be its own post.

Liberals believe any sane person will reach the conclusions of liberal ideology if given the correct information. They view all of their political opponents as either confused idiots or cynical liars seeking only power. They cannot rationalize someone opposed to liberalism for valid reasons, even if those people have been colonized, forced into poverty, or denied basic rights because of the consequences of a liberal market economy.

Liberalism is the ultimate slow death, the false critical thinking. They're political sleeper cells that turn into the "authoritarians" they claim to hate whenever something challenges the worldview. They assume anything they say is fact, since other liberals are saying it. They believe the state and government on 90% of everything until someone from the news or government says not to. Its the ideology of a braindead follower.