"A man who lies to himself, and believes his own lies becomes unable to recognize truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself and for others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and, in order to divert himself, having no love in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest forms of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal. And it all comes from lying - lying to others and to yourself." - Dostoevsky"If there is no God, everything is possible." - Dostoevsky Fyodor Dostoevsky
Your quote from Dostoevsky is spot on. The problem for the progressives is not 1920. It is now. It is cognitive dissonance, the belief in things which conflict with observed reality. It is rejection, that is true, but not rejection by others. It is inner rejection. They turn their anger toward others in the hope that if they can make everyone disappear who disagrees with them, that their belief system will work. They cling to a failed belief system, and they are so completely vested in it that they would rather see the world destroyed than to reconsider their premises.
Unable to Recognize Truth.