I disagree. These discussions get less substantive and more uncivil as they become more generic. Eventually the only conversation left to have is repeating the same worn and entrenched claims that we've all heard countless times. What results is tedious for two important reasons: it's predictable, and people use it to attack each other. That makes such discussions violate the mandate of this site, which is to be intellectually interesting.

If there's an antidote or at least a retardant to this, it's to focus on the concrete specifics of the article and inhibit the rush to grand abstractions.