The dire Effects of Dehumanising the Political Opposition

In today's day and age the easiest way to discard other people's opinion seems to be to label them. May it be as "Nazi" or "libtard", we seemingly are moving further away from discussing actually topics. Instead we find ways not to deal with differing opinions to the point we do not know what the opposing parties actually want, we just know that they are evil and detestable.

I want to elaborate why I think labeling someone a Nazi is an especially dangerous thing to do, foremost for public figures and politicians.

Associated with the term is the disregard for other ethnicities, to the point where their extinction becomes a political goal. Xenophobia and racism are deemed to be at the core of this belief.
Making violence a political goal, warrants equally violent forms of protesting it. And that is where the danger lies.

This label strips people of their humanity. It's not worth it to discuss them, the only way to tackle them is to fight them. Literally.
And the public seemingly likes to pick up on that. Whilst many people claim to be non-violent, punching a Nazi is a legitimate way of voicing their opposition to their alleged beliefs. Nazis are sub-human after all, human rights do not apply to them and the only thing they are deserving of is their extinction.

Chances are you have never encountered someone wearing a swastika in your life. Identifying them seems to be an easy task to many regardless. You will apparently find tons of them on any political rally that leans to the right.

Today Frank Magnitz became a victim of this rhetoric. 3 people attacked him with sticks, beat him unconscious, kicked his head whilst on the ground and left him bleeding in the streets. The perpetrators have not been caught, but their motivation seems unquestionable; punch a Nazi, they deserve it.

The commentary on it from many people is equally disgusting as the action itself and a lot of German politicians are in on it. Cem Özdermir, member of parliament for the green party, condemn this action, only to call to oust Nazis the democratic way.

This incident only happened days after a bomb attack on one of the AFD bureaus.

What is to expect from all this?

I fear this may be the final nail in the coffin for healthy and democratic discourse. The constant demonisation is finally bearing fruits. Nobody deserves to be attacked so cowardly, no matter their beliefs. The public needs to come to come to their senses, stop discrediting their opposition in nasty ways, be interested in opinions contrary to their own and get back to debate actual content.
I strongly believe that one can only have an educated opinion if one is familiar with the con-arguments.

Civil public discourse becomes impossible if one has to fear for his health and the wellbeing of his family. We are straying far from democracy if we become unable to voice our opinions publicly.

To quote myself from an past article;
"I encourage everyone to go to the rallies of the opposing parties with an open mind, engage in discussion and assume the people are doing it with good intent."(https://steempeak.com/politics/@supermeatboy/a-review-of-the-public-political-discourse-in-context-to-the-recent-state-elections-in-hesse)

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