Disagreement vs demonization

[rsheslin]

Someone asked me the difference between political disagreement and demonization. I came up with the following description:

• Demonization is saying nasty things about your opponent rather than disagreeing with his or her ideas.
• Demonization is labeling and dismissing large groups of people instead of discussing the efficacy of specific policies.

Comments

[jimkeller]

Is it still demonization if the person you're disagreeing with is, in fact, evil? :)

[rsheslin]

Not if you separate discussion of their innate vile nature from their inadequate understanding of policy creation.
;)