What we need both online and off is less tribalism and more open discussions of what economic and social policies have and haven't worked for whom up until now, based in simple facts rather than sound bites and emotional manipulation.

Online though, there's probably not much we can do. (Ideally there's speaking truth to power if an opportunity arises, but we're not talking about powerful people here, right?) Most real people (since much of the absolute worst vitriol we see online is astroturfing) can only be reached under the right conditions, like if they respect you or if they were already questioning things on their own and only need a little push. (Wealthy people have an advantage in that they can use money to induce favourable conditions all across a society, while the rest of us need to either be heavily organized or especially lucky. What works in regular people's favour though is exposure to doses of reality. Not in a confrontational way, but in an empowering way.

Exactly. You can’t take them seriously at all because they’re just dumb hicks that have been mislead all of their lives but are amplified by social media now.