Everyone should wear a tie from time to time, it's fun!
In all seriousness, this line of reasoning is pretty fallacious, Linus has somehow jumped from "not actively abusing anyone" to the conclusion that this inevitably leads to backstabbing and passive aggressiveness.
He provides no evidence to support this claim, and I think many of us who work in reasonable office environments know that this is just simply not the case. Don't let Linus's stature cloud the fact that he's making unsubstantiated claims and just expecting you to go along with them.