Phobia: The Truth Behind the Lefts New Favorite Buzzword

            It is telling that the left quickly paints anyone who disagrees with them as being afflicted with some sort of phobia. Transphobia, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Xenophobia. If you are not a hard line Progressive you have probably been called one of these names before. While these names are being used as a cudgel against political opponents, it is curious that they have attached to the suffix phobia. But why?

            First let’s define Phobia: A Phobia is an extreme or irrational fear or aversion of something. This definition still holds as far as I know, that is unless the Progressives have changed it to mean irrational fear + privilege = phobia. Let’s just assume that isn’t the case and go with the correct definition, which is the one I’ll be using. So why is it that they are describing everyone they do not like as suffering from one phobia or another?

            They are the ones who experience fear and are projecting. With the left praising ideas such as microagressions and safe spaces this one becomes obvious. They are afraid of ideas or that someone is making aggressive moves against them without even knowing they are doing it. They hate the things they are afraid of and probably, rightfully so, believe that fear is a tool used for oppression. Since, from their perspective, they hate things that they fear, it is easy to project that things other people hate (or dislike or disagree with) must stem from fear as well. Since they are not afraid of those things that other people do not like, that fear must be irrational, thus a phobia.

            It furthers the idea that if you do not think like they do, than you are irrational. This can best be observed in comments aimed at The President. Comments like, he is completely irrational, he has a mental disability and is unfit to be President, and he is unstable. Naturally if someone is unstable or irrational you attempt to avoid them. We all have enough of our own problems in life, we don’t need unstable people around making things harder. Also if you believe or agree with, in part or wholly, with someone who is irrational, you must be irrational yourself. To a Progressive, if you do not like something they like, you must either be ignorant or irrational. If you are ignorant you don’t argue with them but if you speak up and disagree, you must be irrational.

            The words allow you to sound smart, without actually being smart, or doing any work to gain knowledge. Phobias, real life phobias, need to be diagnosed by a doctor. So when the left uses the word Phobia, they are appropriating the language used by doctors and psychologists. It is universally accepted that doctors go through a lot of training and schooling, thus they are very educated. Most people will see a doctor as an intelligent person or at the very least an educated person. So if someone sounds like a doctor they must be educated. If it walks like a doctor and talks like a doctor, it must be smart.

            Social stigma attachment. If hear someone say, “This person is afraid of spiders” you kind of feel bad or sympathize with that person. Spiders can be scary, but also it can be hard for the person to function if they have an irrational or extreme fear of spiders, so you end up feeling for them. But if someone says, “This person has arachnophobia” it is immediately associated with the language used by doctors, who you go to when something is wrong with you. Your brain immediately, usually subconsciously, will jump to something is wrong with them and trigger an avoidance response. That does not mean something is wrong with you, instead it is a survival mechanism that has its roots in biology.

            While these things may be interesting or give us a good laugh, it is important to understand. The better we can understand Progressives the easier it will be to point out the flaws in their arguments and understand their reasoning behind them.