Just a reminder: there are still normies in the world. Lots of them. In fact, they probably still constitute a strong outright majority of the population, although the proportions are less overwhelming than they used to be*.
The fact that the public and semi-public conversation spaces are all filled with weird-ass warring tribes just tells you what sorts of people are really interested in carrying out public and semi-public conversations.
* at least within wealthy-ish more-or-less-cosmopolitan First World etc. societies
Clearly we haven’t had an argument about “reasonable people” in a while.
It’s interesting that you use normies here to refer both in the contexts of political vanguards, and geek interests (and their difference from them.) This analogy shows why you’re wrong.
Remember how popular Games of Thrones, and Avengers, and World of Warcraft, and Angry Birds got? Once the domain of a stigmatized minority, once they became mainstream acceptable, they became incredibly popular. It’s like they were incubating and learning the tricks to appeal most directly to our stimulus centers… and then once the stigma went down, they spread amongst the “normal” populace like wildfire.
Same with political tactics. There’s a stigma (or was) against being “that guy (political edition).” It’s more casual to live and let be, and only amongst some addicted extremists do they involved in the “circular firing squads of constant political debate.” Man, who says stuff like “tone policing” and “all my opponents are Nazis?” Just chill out and leave politics out of it.
Except, once the walls come down, and being a political obsessive is admirable and socially useful. Then, much like GRRM showed us what the “good stuff” was, tumblr arguments pre-figured what arguments you’ll see play out and dominate the “normies” once they too think “the personal IS political.”
It’s whiplash how fast people go from “we don’t police political opinions here” to “we are committed to making this a safe space” after all.
You’re reading a lot into a short and deliberately-vague post.
But I will say:
It’s true that, with good content and good marketing, you can popularize The Avengers and A Song of Ice and Fire, transforming them from niche geek media into normie media. But if you’re an old-school geek, and you expect the new normie fans to appreciate those things the way in the manner that you and your friends appreciated them in the old days, you are going to be very disappointed. More relevantly, if you’re an old-school geek expecting that all these new fans are going to be friends and kindred spirits based on their fondness for your beloved media, you are going to be very disappointed.
And it’s true that, with the right kind of cultural suasion, you can popularize concepts like “safe space” and “toxic abuser” and push them into the mainstream. But if you’re a typical sort of social-justice-driven Tumblr denizen, and you imagine that all these newly-”converted” corporate citizens and SNL-watchers are going to share your social norms and your fundamental values in a way that makes you comfortable…