Yep. I’ve been told I am “shaming” some behaviour. I think it is shameful, yes. If my criticism of it makes you feel shame, perhaps you should interrogate that rather than asking me to shut up.

A related phenomenon is when I am told that my arguments depend on an assumption that liberalism is the best system. This is the position I argue from, yes. It’s very much intentional.

Responses like this irritate me profoundly because they are substance-free. Assume that, when somebody takes a certain stance, they do so deliberately. There’s not much to be gained from pointing it out to them. It just makes me wonder if you yourself are prone to having opinions by accident and only realising it when someone else tells you what it was.

If you think someone else is being wrongly dismissive, explain why you think they should not dismiss the thing.

If you think they are unjustly criticising a thing, make a defence of the thing.

If you think they are operating from bad premises or principles, explain why they are bad.

Say something.