A lot of people have gotten fragile. The collapse of a common culture is part of it, especially since the left’s underlying project is an aggressive campaign to eradicate the traditional culture. The left is now openly hostile to anyone who does not bend the knee.
Social media siloing is a big part of it. Too many people have no idea what the other side is talking about.
But there is a special toxicity to the modern left. This is rooted ultimately in the realization, at some (often unarticulated) level, that it is living a lie. People living a lie cannot tolerate truth tellers. Nor can they take a joke.
I think you are spot on. It’s harder to be told that your entire world view has been based on falsehood.
There's a lot of wisdom in your comments.
and as per Dalrymple, that is what he means when he states that people "lose their probity".
When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity.