I think it speaks for lack of mental fortitude to do a 180 on all your values just because there's a bunch of jackasses on "your side." I think it's more constructive to correct things you see fucked up in your "movement," or whatever. Like, many believe that Social Studies Warrior loonies hijacked the progressive movement. If you really hold progressive values, it makes sense to try to take it back, rather than abandoning all your values and becoming an alt-right asshat.
I see this happening in sports too. "I don't like this team or athlete because their fanbase is annoying." How the fuck is that the athlete's fault?
I completely agree with this.
But what if the ideology you identified with changed? Or you saw new found errors in it?
Do you think that it’s an embodiment of people equating specific issues - such as free speech and gun rights - to specific teams? Because there’s certainly pro-free speech and pro-gun liberals. Would you also come to the conclusion that this is a symptom of people boxing themselves up behind arbitrary labels (I.e. liberal, conservative, democrat, republican) or can you perceive it as something beyond that?
Important questions to ask.
I feel like there's a spectrum of political, social, spiritual, moral, ethical, humanitarian, existential, etc. views and truly freethinking people fall somewhere on the spectrum. People that act like "you're either with us or against us if you don't subcribe to viewpoints A, B, C, D" are too simple.
I think you hit the nail on the head that people box themselves into arbitrary labels, or teams. Usually those teams come with specific criterea, or archetypes. Like, I've known plenty of conservatives IRL, through work and other ways. And it's always the same thing. All of them pro-gun rights. All of them at
best are highly skeptical of climate change. Like, you'd think there's nothing linking gun rights and climate change. But somehow they always have to have those concurrent views. It's tribalism in its purest form.
Such things sometimes make me wonder if the concept of political parties or platforms may have been a mistake.