SETH BARRETT TILLMAN: A Response to Professor Kevin Jon Heller’s “Norway Murders Freya the Walrus.” “I suppose there is another possibility. Heller’s blog post is not indicative of prejudice. And, it is not an attempt to persuade. Rather, it is an attempt at self-identification to other members of the Elect. Heller is identifying himself to other similarly minded people as one who deeply cares; he has his heart and mind in the right place. Moreover, he wants other similar thinking individuals to know he is one of them. That would be why his relying on unsupported stereotypes is OK—because he is not trying to change future policy and he is not really trying to persuade those thinking differently from what he thinks. That might be the explanation. But it is not a good approach for an academic to take.”

It is, however, a very common approach.

UPDATE: From the comments: “Ultimately power is all liberals can value, because it’s the only thing that can force changes that other people don’t want.”

And the point isn’t forcing change. It’s forcing change that other people don’t want. Making people do things they don’t want to do is the only source of joy the left has.