The kind of fascist reward-and-punishment regime we've all suffered under for the past few years is very effective at silencing dissent. Step out of line with even the wrong word, and you lose your job. We all saw it happen to news commentators and sports commentators on television. One wrong word, one slip of the tongue, and they were gone. They apologized, but no amout of groveling and foot-kissing was enough. The left wanted to make examples of them to make the rest of us toe the line. And it worked. Once you get a certain critical mass of fascist thugs enforcing the narrative, it's almost impossible to defy without life-destroying consequences.