We’re all painfully aware of those who live to attack others for insensitivity, microaggressions, etc. They mount a constant hopeful outlook — online and elsewhere — for deviations from whatever norm is at hand. I’m reminded of this from Nietzsche’s The Joyous Science:
Whom do you call bad? — Those who always want to put others to shame.
e (Sec. 273):
Psychologically, chronic shamers are losers in their own eyes. Yet they get a reprieve from their self-loathing by bullying others. They feel a brief sense of empowerment — a negative self-affirmation from seeing others damaged or humiliated.
It’s a kind of low-grade sadism, but one driven by an internal self-masochism.
What is the defense against the attacks? I fully appreciate that you have defined the person who makes the attacks, in fact it has provided a lot of clarity where clarity was missing. But those who are attacking currently have the momentum, what is the counter to the attack?