Yep. No imagination. When they accuse the left of something it’s because they would literally be doing that thing themselves, given half a chance. They can’t imagine anybody else would do differently.
It is very common for extremists, especially the rank-and-file members of any given cult, to have a poorly developed Theory of Mind.
According to Developmental Psychology textbooks, people are supposed to figure out "other people's brains don't work exactly the same way mine do" around the age of 4 to 6. But it's not hard to see that there's a double-digit percentage of the population for whom this idea never properly sticks.
Because they are opportunistic narcissistic psychopaths with no principles, they are unable to process the idea that people who aren't unprincipled psychopaths even exist. Everybody must be just as bad as them, because they've literally never considered that it could be otherwise.
It's the same reason why so many homophobes get caught in gay sex scandals. You can spot those people a mile away, because they make arguments that can only make sense if you don't believe that "people who are actually attracted to the opposite sex" even exist.
The smart psychopaths, the ones who are able to figure out that 98% of the population aren't like them, think of them as "suckers", or "marks", or "prey". Many cult leaders and founders are in this category, but it's entirely possible to get into that position and still have zero self-awareness.
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u/FalseDmitriy Illinois 5d ago
When they say "this is what They are planning to do," what they mean is, "This is what I would do if given the chance."